BRITISH  ARTISTS 


ROMNEY 


f 


LIBRARY 


CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


BRITISH    ARTISTS 


ROMNEY 


Edited  by  S.  C.  KLINES  SMITH 


BRITISH      ARTISTS 

EDITED    BY 

S.   C.   KAINES   SMITH,  M.A.,  M.B.E. 


The    volumes    at  present    arranged  comprise  the  following, 
here  given   in    chronological  order. 


Vol. 

I.  The  XVI  Century  Painters. 
With  a  note  on  the  influence 
of  Holbein. 

II.  Cornelius   Johnson    and 
Jamesone. 

III.  Dobson  and  Robert  Walker. 
With  a  note  on  the  work 
of  Van  Dyck  in  England. 

IV.  J.    Riley,   Greenhill,    J.    M. 
Wright  and  Mary  Beale. 

V.  Lely  and  Kneller. 

VI.  Thornhill,  Jervas,  Dandridge, 
and  Hudson. 

VII.  Hogarth. 
VIII.  Reynolds. 
IX.  Gainsborough. 
X.  Roraney. 
XI.  Raeburn. 
XII.  Hoppner  and  Lawrence. 

XIII.  Opie  and  Cosway. 

XIV.  Wright  of  Derby. 

XV.  B.  West,  J.  S.  Copley  and  G. 
Stuart.  With  a  note  on 
American  painting  in  the 
XVI  Ilth  Century. 


Vol. 

XVI.  Paul  Sandby,  Towne, 
Couzens,  with  a  note  on 
the  rise  of  water- 
colour  painting. 

XVII.  Copley  Fielding. 
XVIII.  Cox  and  De  Wint. 

XIX.  Kauffman,  Bartolozzi  and 
Zoffany.  With  a  note 
on  Foreign  Members  of 
the  Royal  Academy  in 
1768. 

XX.  Morland,  Ibbetson,  and 
James  Ward. 

XXI.  Richard  Wilson  and 
Joseph  Farington. 

XXII.  Barker  of  Bath  and  the 
Bath  Painters. 

XXIII.  John  (old)  Crome,  with  a 

note   on    the   Norwich 
School. 

XXIV.  Cotman. 
XXV.  Constable. 

XXVI.  Bonington  and  Girtin. 

XXVII.  Bewick  and  Clarkson 
Stanfield.  With  a  note 
on  the  Newcastle  group. 

XXVIII.  Turner. 
XXIX.  Alfred  Stevens. 


OTHERS  IN  PREPARATION. 


Me 


GEORGE ROMNEY 


BRITISH     ARTISTS 

EDITED  BY 

S.    C.    KAINES    SMITH,    M.A. 


ROMNEY 

By 

B.  L.  K.  HENDERSON,  D.LIT. 


NEW    YORK 
FREDERICK   A.  STOKES   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


First  Published  in  1922 


PRINTED  IN  GRKAT  BRITAIN 


FOREWORD 

I  wish  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  my 
friend,  Hector  Suffling,  Barrister-at-Law,  for 
generous  assistance  in  this  little  book.  Originally 
it  was  our  intention  to  work  together  throughout 
in  the  gathering  of  material ;  but  events  occurred 
that  rendered  this  impossible  to  the  extent  we  had 
contemplated.  However,  it  would  be  unfair  not 
to  pay  full  tribute  to  Mr.  Suffling's  skilful  con- 
tribution. The  book  has  gained  very  materially 
by  his  aid,  and  lost  much  by  his  inability  to  proceed 
further  in  his  co-operation. 

I  have  also  to  make  the  following  acknowledg- 
ments :  to  the  Director  of  the  National  Gallery, 
for  permission  to  reproduce  The  Beaumont  Family, 
Mr.  &•  Mrs.  William  Lindow,  Jacob  Morland,  and 
the  Lady  and  Child  ;  to  the  Director  of  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery,  for  the  Portrait  of  the  A  rtist  and 
Richard  Cumberland  ;  to  Mrs.  F.  Davies,  for  Miss 
Casson  ;  and  to  Lord  Alfred  de  Rothschild,  for 
Lady  Hamilton  as  "  Errma." 

B.  L.  K.   HENDERSON. 


PREFACE 

I  HAVE  heard  the  possessor  of  a  small  but 
splendid  house,  full  of  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  century  forebears,  complain  that 
they  were  difficult  to  live  up  to,  and  my 
first  impulse  was  to  quote  that  proverb  of 
Spain  which  says  that  God  gives  almonds 
to  those  who  have  no  teeth.  Reynolds 
was  there,  and  Gainsborough,  beside  whom 
Cotes  and  Hudson  did  their  best,  and 
Highmore,  prim  and  dignified  ;  while  Lely 
and  Riley,  and,  for  the  parson  member  of 
the  family,  excellent  Mary  Beale,  helped  to 
people  the  walls.  It  was  a  noble  company. 
Yet  at  the  end  of  a  week  of  their  society 
I  began  to  sympathise,  just  a  little,  with  my 
host  ;  I  felt  that  they  had  to  be  lived  up  to. 
There  was  no  Romney  there.  One  does 
not  live  up  to  Romney's  portraits,  one 
lives  with  them.  They  are  accommodating, 
friendly  folk,  looking  their  best  on  purpose 
to  please,  rather  than  to  impress  us.  Their 
personality  is  not  so  underlined  as  to  intrude 
upon  our  own.  Their  modelling,  their 


viii  Preface 

light  and  shade,  do  not  clamour  for 
recognition,  and  the  artist,  reticent  in  his 
work  as  he  was  in  his  life,  does  not  obtrude 
his  skill  upon  us,  but  is  content  to  turn  it, 
by  an  alchemy  that  is  quite  his  own,  into 
pure  and  simple  pleasure  of  the  eyes. 

That,  I  think,  is  the  secret  of  Romney's 
popularity — for  popular  he  undoubtedly  is. 
The  slowness  of  his  rise  to  fame,  as  the  sale- 
room measures  fame,  is  due  largely  to  the 
fact  that  he  is  not  an  artist's  artist.  There 
are  moments  when  his  drawing  is  positively 
wild  ;  there  a"re  instances  when  his  wonderful 
instinct  for  decorative  design,  combined  with 
the  broad  temerity  of  his  brushwork,  reduce 
his  work  almost  to  the  quality  of  a  lovely 
wall-decoration,  with  human  form  added  to 
it  as  an  accident.  The  purity  and  unerring 
harmony  of  his  colour  so  far  transcend  the 
vitality  of  some  of  his  portraits  as  portraits, 
that  the  picture,  divested  of  all  reference  to 
anything  but  itself,  can  be,  and  is,  enjoyed 
simply  as  a  thing  of  beauty — and  on  this 
ground  the  mere  layman  can  share  a  stand- 
point with  the  professional  critic  and  the 
theorist  in  aesthetic. 

Dr.  Henderson  expresses  regret  that  the 
conditions  of  Romney's  life  prevented  him 
from  launching  out  into  imaginative 


Preface  ix 

subjects  ;  speaking  for  myself,  I  am  very 
content  that  it  should  have  been  so.  The 
readers  of  this  book  will  rejoice  with  me  to 
find  in  Dr.  Henderson  a  prophet  of  the 
greatness  of  Romney,  and  will  admit  the 
force  of  his  argument  that  the  painter  who 
could  produce  such  joyous  work  even  while 
bound  by  the  trammels  of  portraiture,  might 
well  have  been  among  the  world's  greatest 
imaginative  painters.  But  if  that  had  been 
so,  we  must  inevitably  have  lost  the  Romney 
that  we  have,  and  that  is  a  loss  that  I 
cannot  contemplate  with  calm  ;  for  we 
should  have  lost  a  human  being  and  an 
artist  as  well  as  a  portrait  painter. 

An  essential  part  of  the  charm — that  is 
the  only  possible  word — of  Romney's 
portraits  lies  in  that  very  sameness  which 
has  been  the  sport  of  some  critics  of  his  work. 
It  is  perfectly  true  that,  working  perpetually, 
and  always  at  speed,  he  has  reduced  the 
component  parts  of  a  woman's  face  to  a 
series  of  formulae,  which  he  combines  and 
recombines  in  slightly  varying  ways.  It 
is  perfectly  true  that  from  1782  onwards 
all  his  work  is  more  or  less  adapted  to  the 
formula  in  part  derived  from,  in  part 
imposed  upon,  the  features  of  Emma  Hart. 
But  this  is  all  to  the  good,  for  the  result 


x  Preface 

of  it  is  that  his  pictures  are,  so  to  speak, 
submissive  to  our  enjoyment.  We  can 
take  their  method  for  granted,  for  we  know 
it  by  heart,  and  we  can  be  content  to  thank 
Heaven,  as  probably  many  of  his  sitters 
did,  that  he  has  made  them  less  like  them- 
selves than  like  his  own  ideal. 

Dr.  Henderson  has  pointed  out  that  those 
who  used  Romney  as  a  portrait  painter 
were  but  rarely  interested  in  him  as  a  man  ; 
and  I  think  that,  Lady  Hamilton  apart, 
there  is  very  little,  if  any,  evidence  that 
Romney  took  any  more  personal  interest  in 
the  generality  of  his  sitters  than  they  took 
in  him.  In  saying  that  this  results  in  a 
marked  quality  of  impersonal  uniformity 
in  his  portraits,  I  am  neither  disparaging 
Romney  nor  differing  from  Dr.  Henderson 
in  his  estimate  of  Romney  as  a  painter  of 
character.  I  am  merely  asserting  that  as 
an  imaginative  painter  Romney  found 
scope  for  self-expression  within  the  limits 
imposed  upon  him  by  portrait-painting, 
with  the  result  that,  whatever  the  subject, 
a  "  Romney  "  is  always  a  piece  of  Romney 
himself  ;  its  purity  and  simplicity  are  those 
of  the  man's  own  mind,  its  very  lack  of 
penetration  is  part  of  his  own  shyness,  its 
occasional  depth  and  force  are  the  outcome  of 


Preface  xi 

his  own  rare  sympathies,  as  in  the  John 
Wesley. 

Dr.  Henderson  has  written  with  en- 
thusiasm, and  I  think  that  enthusiasm  is 
needed,  if  one  is  to  get  beyond  enjoyment  to 
understanding  of  such  a  man  and  such  a 
painter  as  Romney.  The  work  of  many 
artists  calls  for  cold  and  deliberate  analysis, 
and  that  of  many  others  for  the  application 
of  highly  developed  principles  of  aesthetic  ; 
but  to  attempt  the  criticism  of  the  work 
of  George  Romney  on  such  lines  as  these 
would  be  to  abandon  the  natural  and 
unstudied  delight  that  he  derived  from 
simple  beauty  of  colour  and  design,  and  that 
he  strove  to  pass  on  by  unsophisticated 
craft. 

If  the  work  of  Romney  had  been  difficult 
to  enjoy,  he  would  have  rivalled  Reynolds 
long  ago  ;  but  nothing  shakes  the  confidence 
of  the  professed  critic  in  the  greatness  of  a 
painter  more  than  the  discovery  that  any 
school-girl  can  enjoy  his  pictures.  It  is 
just  because  Romney 's  pictures  are  lovable 
and  "  liveable  "  that  he  has  been  long  in 
coming  into  his  own,  and  only  time  has 
brought  the  great  ones  of  the  earth  to  accept 
the  verdict  of  ordinary  folk,  whose  very 
tenacity  in  holding  to  their  love  has  hindered 


xii  Preface 

the  critics  in  their  studies.  There  must 
still  be  scores  of  portraits  from  this  painter's 
prolific  hand  hidden  in  the  homes  of  those 
that  love  them  without  the  thought  of  art 
or  of  sale-rooms,  much  as  the  picture  which 
is  here  reproduced  for  the  first  time,  the 
portrait  of  little  Miss  Casson,  was  hidden 
when  I  met  with  it  less  than  a  year  ago. 
It  was  unknown  to  Messrs.  Ward  &  Roberts, 
and  can  scarcely  have  been  seen  by  any 
outside  a  narrow  circle,  since  it  was  first 
brought  home  from  Cavendish  Square  ; 
painted  to  commemorate  the  infant  genius 
of  a  child  who,  when  but  seven  years  old,  had 
performed  in  public  on  the  instrument  that 
figures  in  the  picture,  it  had  been  a  "  family 
possession  "  ever  since  ;  and  is,  I  think, 
a  testimony  to  the  sincerity  and  simplicity 
of  the  painter's  ideals,  that,  in  simple 
surroundings,  it  was  in  no  wise  out  of  place. 
A  Reynolds  there  would  have  looked  like 
a  Field-Marshal  in  a  sentry-box  ;  a  Gains- 
borough like  a  court-lady  in  a  country  lane. 
But  Miss  Casson  looked  like  what  she  was, 
a  little  girl  at  home. 

One  does  not  live  up  to  Romney's 
portraits,  one  lives  with  them — if  one  has 
the  luck. 

S.  C.  KAINES  SMITH. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION  .....         ix 

CHAPTER  I :  BIOGRAPHICAL  AND    PERSONAL        i 

,,        II :  TRAINING     AND     ASSOCIATION 

WITH  ARTISTS      .         .         -37 

„  III :  STYLE,  DEVELOPMENT,  CHARAC- 
TERISTICS ....  65 

„        IV  :  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  ARTIST     101 

,,  V  :  ROMNEY'S  INFLUENCE  ON  CON- 
TEMPORARIES AND  SUCCES- 
SORS, AND  ON  PUBLIC  TASTE  141 

APPENDIX  I :  LIST  OF  ROMNEY'S  PICTURES     155 
,,         II  :  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES    .          .158 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

1.  PORTRAIT  OF  THE  ARTIST   .  Frontispiece 

2.  Miss  CASSON      .....       34 

3.  RICHARD  CUMBERLAND       ...       48 

4.  Mr.  &  Mrs.  WILLIAM  LINDOW       .         .       66 

5.  LADY  HAMILTON  AS  "  EMMA  "    .         .       82 

6.  JACOB  MORLAND         ....       88 

7.  LADY  AND  CHILD       .         .         .         .no 

8.  THE  BEAUMONT  FAMILY     .         .         .124 


CHAPTER    I. 

BIOGRAPHICAL   AND   PERSONAL. 

WHEN  we  stand  before  a  picture  painted  by 
a  great  master  of  bygone  days,  and  study 
not  only  the  subject  itself  but  the  technique 
of  the  artist,  it  is  strange  how  profoundly  the 
work  affects  us.  More  than  printed  book, 
or  strains  of  music,  this  canvas  with  its  coat 
of  paint  speaks  straight  to  the  heart, 
evoking  the  years  that  have  sped.  To  read 
a  passage  from  Shakespeare  is  to  share 
awhile  his  thought,  or  to  look  through  his 
eyes  upon  the  concourse  of  life  around  him  ; 
yet  apart  from  thought  there  is  no  comrade- 
ship in  the  volume  we  hold.  Shakespeare's 
hand  never  touched  it ;  his  eyes  never 
rested  on  it.  If  it  had  been  so,  our  hearts 
would  glow  each  time  our  fingers  came  in 
contact  with  its  pages. 

In  this  respect  the  picture  is  altogether 
different.  It  is,  as  it  were,  a  little  canvas 

6 


2  Romney 

world  into  which  the  human  creator  of  a 
bygone  day  worked  his  soul  and  said  :  "  Let 
there  be  light."  As  we  look  at  it,  there  are 
moments  in  which  we  feel  strongly  and 
disturbingly  near  to  the  man  who  fashioned 
it  from  his  own  brain.  We  can  see,  as 
though  they  had  been  made  yesterday,  the 
marks  of  his  brush.  We  know  that  we  are 
standing  as  he  stood  when  he  looked  upon 
his  creation,  and  saw  that  it  was  good. 
This  picture  is,  indeed,  no  cold,  dull  thing. 
It  was  once  the  very  life  of  the  man,  a 
phase  of  his  existence  that  passed  from  his 
heart  of  hearts  to  his  canvas,  to  remind  us 
of  the  world  in  which  he  lived  and  moved. 
In  reviewing  the  main  features  of  the  life 
of  George  Romney  it  is  well  to  recollect  that, 
while  the  life  of  an  ordinary  man  is  never 
entirely  isolated,  that  of  an  eminent  person, 
by  reason  of  his  station,  necessarily  comes 
into  touch  with  much  that  is  vital  to  the  age 
in  which  he  lives.  We  have  yet,  so  it  would 
seem,  much  to  learn  before  we  understand 
the  eighteenth  century  with  its  manifold 
activities  and  experimental  modes  of  life. 
The  nineteenth  century,  a  next-door  neigh- 
bour among  the  centuries,  was  somewhat 


Biographical  and  Personal  3 

inclined  to  disregard  the  true  greatness  of 
the  preceding  hundred  years,  and  to  under- 
estimate, with  true  neighbourly  disdain,  the 
significance  of  their  history.  In  all  proba- 
bility, as  the  English  race  moves  further 
along  the  pathway  of  time,  it  will  come 
to  a  higher  estimate  of  generations  that 
established  the  material  and  spiritual  founda- 
tions of  our  Empire,  and  set  to  work  schemes 
that  have  since  become  dominant  impulses 
in  our  national  life.  Our  descendants  will 
see  more  distinctly  the  meaning  of  an  age 
which,  after  all,  is  historically  still  very  close 
to  us,  and  they  will  extol,  as  we  cannot  yet 
do,  the  self-sacrifice  and  energy,  the  fore- 
sight and  the  skill  that  gave  birth  to  new 
life  in  so  many  directions. 

Among  the  men  of  that  generation  lived 
George  Romney.  He  was  born  on  the  a6th 
December,  1734,  and  died  on  November 
I5th,  1802.  The  years  of  his  life  coincided 
with  one  of  the  most  active  periods  of  our 
national  existence.  By  the  force  of  his 
genius  he  rose  to  a  position  which  brought 
him  into  touch  with  many  of  the  most 
eminent  men  and  women  of  his  day.  For 
that  reason,  as  well  as  for  the  value  of  his 


4  Romney 

work,  we  look  back  upon  his  career  with 
added  interest,  seeing  in  his  life  one  of  the 
vital  threads  that  composed  the  woof  of  that 
splendid  age.  A  glance  at  the  names  of  the 
persons  who  sat  for  him  reveals  a  wonderful 
diversity  of  gifts  which  is  at  once  a  tribute 
to  his  reputation,  and  illuminating  to  any- 
one who  seeks  to  recall  in  their  fulness  the 
ranks  of  human  life  in  the  eighteenth 
century.  As  we  review  the  work  of  this 
retiring  genius,  our  curiosity  is  excited  by 
the  discovery  that  he  painted  not  only  so- 
called  pillars  of  society,  but  in  the  course 
of  his  quiet  life  he  met  with  Laurence 
Sterne,  William  Cowper,  William  BJake, 
Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan,  and  Edmund 
Gibbon,  in  the  world  of  letters  ;  statesmen 
such  as  Pitt  and  Townshend  ;  preachers  and 
theologians  such  as  John  Wesley  and  Dr. 
Paley  ;  Sir  Hyde  Parker  and  Admiral  Keppel 
among  naval  men  ;  and  in  the  world  of 
science  Erasmus  Darwin,  the  grandfather  of 
Charles  Darwin.  These  are  but  a  few  names 
chosen  at  random  from  the  long  list  of  his 
men  sitters.  The  women  he  painted  offer 
a  list  equally  fascinating.  Reading  his  life 
as  told  by  Hayley,  his  friend,  or  by  John 


Biographical  and  Personal  5 

Romney,  his  son,  we  seem  to  see  a  pageant 
of  splendid,  glittering  life  passing  through 
his  studio  and  associating  with  this  hyper- 
sensitive man,  while  he,  looking  upon  the 
virtue  and  valour,  the  genius,  the  wit  and 
the  beauty  of  the  age,  takes  up  his  brush 
and  paints  that  stately  procession.  "  History 
is  a  pageant  and  not  a  philosophy."  Not 
for  its  intrinsic  merit  alone,  but  also  for  the 
myriad  shifting  side-lights  flung  upon  the 
fleeting  three-score  years  of  human  existence 
does  the  genius  of  George  Romney  draw  us 
into  the  charm  of  its  circle. 

George  was  the  son  of  John  Romney,* 
a  builder  and  cabinet-maker,  and  of  Ann 
Simpson,  his  wife.  Those  who  delight  to 
trace  the  influence  of  heredity  would  find 
pleasure  in  pondering  upon  the  talents  of 
"  honest  John  Rumney  " — as  he  wrote  the 
name — and  the  outflow  of  that  genius  in  his 
son.  The  relation  between  the  son's  and 
the  father's  talent  affords  a  strangely  parallel 
study  to  that  of  Mr.  Lamb  senior  and  his  son 


*  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell  advances  the  ingenious 
suggestion  that  the  name  is  derived  from  "  Romany  " 
and  that  the  Romneys  probably  came  from  a  Gipsy 
stock. 


6  Romney 

Charles.  George  underwent  a  more  or  less 
useless  schooling  at  Dalton,  and  so  small  was 
his  response  to  the  "  humanities  "  that  he 
came  home  at  the  early  age  of  eleven  to 
assist  his  father  in  his  business.  In  those 
early  days,  when  genius  was  undoubtedly 
stirring  restlessly  within  him,  the  boy 
devoted  himself  to  making  fiddles.  A 
passion  for  music  remained  with  him  for  life. 
How  often  in  biography  do  we  find  the 
genius  of  a  man  suggesting  that,  if  it  had  not 
flowed  in  one  channel,  some  other  course 
might  easily  have  been  found  by  which  it 
could  move  towards  the  ocean  of  fame. 

But  the  genius  of  the  artist  would  out. 
He  drew  portraits  of  his  father's  workmen. 
One  of  these  men*  (all  honour  to  this 
obscure  craftsman  !)  lent  the  boy  an  illus- 


*  Sam  Knight,  a  working-man  who  boarded  with 
Mr.  Romney.  This  meritorious  patron  of  the  arts, 
and  founder,  as  he  may  be  called,  of  the  fortunes  of 
our  painter,  being  luckily  a  man  of  more  than 
common  curiosity,  put  himself  to  the  expense  of 
taking  in  a  monthly  magazine  .  .  .  and  when  Sam 
Knight  had  satisfied  his  hunger  and  thirst  after 
knowledge,  he  was  in  the  custom  of  lending  his 
magazine  to  his  eager  inmate  George.  Knight  also 
lent  him  a  copy  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci's  Treatise  on 
Painting. 


Biographical  and  Personal  7 

trated  magazine  so  that  he  might  copy  the 
engravings.  George  also  made  copies  from 
Leonardo's  Treatise  on  Painting.  Another 
stimulating  influence  in  this  early  stage  of 
life  was  the  friendship  which  developed 
between  the  young  artist  and  a  watchmaker 
named  John  Williamson.  This  man  had 
talents  that  led  him  to  devote  his  spare  time 
to  the  study  of  natural  philosophy, 
mechanics,  alchemy,  music,  and  art.  Un- 
fortunately for  him  the  stupid  obstinacy  and 
importunity  of  his  wife  led  her  to  oppose  his 
studies  in  every  possible  manner,  and  on 
one  occasion  with  disastrous  results.  He 
was  engaged  in  an  experiment  from  which 
she  insisted  that  he  should  come  to  entertain 
some  of  her  gossiping  women  acquaintances 
who  had  gathered  to  take  refreshment.  His 
furnace  exploded,  and  the  results  of  long 
research  were  destroyed.  Williamson  was 
a  good  friend  to  the  boy,  and  the  unhappy 
married  life  of  the  watchmaker  so  impressed 
George  Romney  that,  in  after  years,  he  used 
to  tell  his  friend  Hayley  of  the  facts,  "  not 
without  shedding  tears  of  gratitude,  in 
describing  his  beneficial  kindness,  and  tears 
of  pity  for  his  calamitous  fate."  Even  at 


8  Romney 

the  end  of  his  life,  Romney  wished  to  paint 
a  series  of  pictures  illustrating  how  William- 
son's experiments  were  ruined  by  the 
explosion  due  to  his  wife's  insensate 
behaviour.  Some  of  Romney 's  biographers 
see  in  this  friendship  one  of  the  factors  that 
influenced  the  artist's  own  attitude  towards 
matrimony ;  but  it  is  far  more  probable 
that  his  own  advance  to  success  rendered 
the  introduction  of  Mrs.  Romney  into  his 
circle  of  society  an  act  totally  undesirable 
both  to  her  and  to  himself.  It  is  still  more 
probable  that,  in  any  case,  her  practical 
nature  would  have  warred  against  the 
ardent  tendencies  of  his  artistic  temperament 
and  played  havoc  with  his  work.  Even  the 
patient  and  saintly  Richard  Hooker  was 
disturbed  by  the  ignorant  and  bustling  Joan. 
Several  people  appear  to  have  detected 
the  promise  of  the  boy's  genius.  Hayley 
says  :  "  The  fortunate  chance  which  led  him 
to  a  cultivation  of  the  particular  art  he  was 
destined  to  profess  was  simply  this.  In  his 
youth  he  observed  great  singularity  of 
countenance  in  a  stranger  at  church ;  his 
parents,  to  whom  he  spoke  of  it,  desired  him 
to  describe  the  person.  He  seized  on  a 


Biographical  and  Personal  9 

pencil,  and  delineated  the  features  from 
memory  with  such  strength  of  resemblance 
as  amazed  and  delighted  his  affectionate 
parents."  This  may  or  may  not  be  true  ; 
but  there  were  others  besides  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Romney  who  perceived  that  here  was  no 
ordinary  talent.  One  of  his  relatives,  Mr. 
Lewthwaite  of  Millom,  urged  John  Romney 
to  train  his  son  as  an  artist.  The  elder 
brothers  had  received  a  good  education,  and 
subsequently  did  well  in  life,  but  this  boy, 
destined  to  exalt  the  family  name  to  be  an 
English  household  word,  was  still  following 
a  blind-alley  employment.  A  Mrs.  Gardner,* 
sister  of  a  tradesman  at  Lancaster,  en- 
couraged George,  and  the  portrait  he  painted 
of  her  was,  perhaps,  his  first  serious  study ; 
but,  unfortunately,  it  was  not  until  he  was 
twenty-one,  and  after  the  loss  of  years — a 
loss  from  which  he  suffered  all  his  life  and 
which  the  student  of  British  Art  must  always 
deplore — that  he  became  apprenticed  to 
Edward  Steele,  a  portrait  painter. 

Meanwhile,    apart    from    the    deep    and 
subtle  influence  of  nature,  Romney 's  training 


*  Mother  of  Daniel  Gardner,  later  a  pupil  of  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds. 


lo  Romney 

had  been  of  an  haphazard  kind,  and  it  does 
not  appear  that  it  changed  appreciably  for 
the  better  under  the  direction  of  Steele. 
One  biographer*  wisely  draws  attention  to 
the  environment  of  the  artist's  younger  life, 
and  recalls  the  scenes  that  daily  attracted 
his  notice  and  sank  into  his  very  nature. 

"  The  Romney  homestead  stood  upon  a 
terrace  facing  the  west  and  commanding  an 
extensive  view  of  the  Irish  Sea,  while  from  a 
hill  at  the  back  a  wonderful  panorama  lay 
unrolled.  To  the  south  was  the  wide  Bay 
of  Morecambe,  and  to  the  north  the  estuary 
of  the  Duddon. 

"  On  the  Cumberland  side  the  high  ground 
was  studded  with  villas  and  farmhouses, 
while  behind  arose  the  majestic  Blackcomb, 
its  lofty  head  swathed  in  grey  cloud,  and  in 
the  distance  might  be  seen  the  pointed 
summits  of  Scaw  Hill,  the  Old  Man,  and 
Coniston.  To  the  east  lay  the  rich  vale  of 
Furness,  its  woods  and  meadows  encircled 
by  another  range  of  distant  mountains." 

When  we  think  of  genius  reared  amidst 
such  romantic  scenes  we  realise  that,  in  a 

*G.  Paston. 


Biographical  and  Personal  II 

different  age,  and  with  a  different  training, 
this  youth  with  his  aerial  fancy  and  delicate 
sense  of  form,  colour  and  effect,  might  have 
been  inspired  to  paint  pictures  that  would 
have  held  enraptured  the  eyes  of  all  who 
beheld  them — pictures  unfolding  the  inner 
meaning  of  Shakespeare's  fancy,  or  Milton's 
inspiration,  as  translated  by  this  child  of  art. 
But  that  was  not  to  be.  Romney's  life  was 
affected  by  the  materialism  rather  than  by 
the  spirituality  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived, 
and,  though  he  beat  his  wings  against  the 
bars,  his  genius  was  mainly  destined  to 
produce  for  posterity  the  form  and  features 
of  the  men  and  women  of  his  own  generation. 
George  Romney  now  became  the  appren- 
tice of  Edward  Steele,  and  also  the  confidant 
in  his  master's  matrimonial  affairs.  The 
excitement  attendant  upon  Steele's  rush  for 
Gretna  Green  told  upon  Romney,  who,  as  is 
stated  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  (1802), 
"  was  of  an  unstable  temper,  so  that  the 
smallest  incident  of  vexation  shook  his 
constitution."  In  his  illness  he  was  nursed 
by  his  landlady's  daughter,  Mary  Abbott, 
who  had  been  employed  as  a  domestic 
servant.  An  attachment  sprang  up,  and 


12  Romney 

they  became  engaged — a  situation  which 
again  reminds  one  of  Richard  Hooker  and 
his  unfortunate  experience  in  matrimony. 
The  Abbotts  were  people  of  inferior  social 
standing  to  the  Romneys.  As  Steele  had 
gone  to  York,  he  desired  his  apprentice  to 
join  him  there  as  soon  as  he  had  recovered 
from  his  illness ;  so,  in  October,  1756, 
George  and  Mary  were  united  before  the 
young  artist's  departure.  One  wonders  as 
to  the  share  the  good  landlady  had  in  this 
hasty  and  unwise  match. 

At  York  Romney  met  Laurence  Sterne, 
whose  portrait  Steele  was  painting  at  that 
time,  and  the  illustrations  for  Tristram 
Shandy  may  have  been  due  to  this  inter- 
course. Probably  Romney  knew  by  sight 
Dr.  Barton  (a  deformed  person  with  a  very 
large  head)  who  was  said  locally  to  have 
been  the  original  of  Dr.  Slop.  The  people 
of  York  were  accustomed  to  the  appearance 
of  this  accoucheur  riding  mud-spattered 
astride  his  tiny  pony.  Sterne  undoubtedly 
recognised  the  genius  of  Steele 's  apprentice, 
and  it  may  have  been  due  to  this  recognition 
that  the  master  grew  jealous,  with  the  result 
that  the  two  eventually  separated.  Romney, 


Biographical  and  Personal  13 

after  sojourning  at  Lancaster,  returned  to 
his  wife  at  Kendal  and  set  up  for  himself  as 
a  portrait  painter.  It  is  worth  while  noticing 
that  Steele  at  first  kept  his  apprentice  at 
work  grinding  pigments,  and,  perhaps,  this 
practice  gave  Romney  his  perfect  knowledge 
of  colour  mixing ;  for  his  earliest  pictures 
show  a  singular  delicacy  of  tone  such  as 
would  arise  from  a  deep  knowledge  of  blend 
and  effect. 

Although  a  measure  of  success  attended 
him  locally — he  gained  the  approbation  of 
several  influential  friends,  such  as  the 
Stricklands  of  Sizergh,  Jacob  Marlow  of 
Copplethwaite,  and  Colonel  Wilson  of  Abbott 
Hall* — Romney's  one  ambition  was  to  try 
his  fortune  in  London.  He  was  always  a 
rapid  worker,  and  the  six  guineas  which  at 
this  period  he  earned  for  a  whole-length,  or 
two  guineas  for  a  three-quarter  length,  were 
sums  which,  if  only  he  had  had  sufficient 
pictures,  might  have  enabled  him  to  save 
up  a  sum  adequate  for  his  purpose.  But 
clients  in  that  remote  district  were  rare  ; 


*  Many  of  Romney's  pictures  are  scattered  about 
the  neighbourhood  of  Kendal,  at  Sizergh,  Dallam 
Tower,  etc. 


14  Romney 

money  came  very  slowly,  while  time  passed 
rapidly  ;  and,  at  length,  he  exhibited  at  the 
Town  Hall,  KendaJ,  his  little  stock  of 
pictures,  oil  copies  of  prints  of  the  Dutch 
Masters,*  two  scenes  from  King  Lear,  and 
the  arrival  of  Dr.  Slop.  The  total  result  of 
his  careful  saving  and  the  harvest  of  the 
lottery  at  Kendal  gave  him  the  sum  of  £100. 
Taking  £30  of  this  amount  and  leaving  the 
residue  for  his  wife  and  two  children,  George 
Romney,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  set  out 
to  try  his  fortune  in  London.  "  It  is  not 
for  man  to  rest  in  absolute  contentment.  He 
is  born  to  hopes  and  aspirations  as  the  sparks 
fly  upward :  unless  he  has  brutified  his 
nature  and  quenched  his  spirit  of  immor- 
tality, which  is  his  portion." 

For  the  purpose  of  this  brief  biography  it 
is  unnecessary  to  attempt  to  trace  even  the 


*  Adam  Walker,  Romney's  early  and  constant 
friend,  showed  Blake  Romney's  first  effort  at  oil 
painting  which  he  had  treasured  carefully.  It 
represented  a  Dutch  scene  of  Boors  smoking,  and 
had  on  the  back  the  words,  "  This  is  the  first  attempt 
at  oil  painting  by  G.  Romney."  Walker's  connec- 
tion links  Romney  with  Shelley,  for  this  ingenious 
schoolmaster  of  Macclesfield  lectured,  on  the  advice 
of  Dr.  Priestly,  at  London  and  Eton,  where  the 
young  poet  attended  his  lectures. 


Biographical  and  Personal  15 

outlines  of  Romney's  early  experience  of  life 
in  the  metropolis.  Horace  Walpole  tells  us 
that  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
there  were  in  England  as  many  as  2,000 
portrait  painters,  and,  of  course,  most  of 
these  were  settled  in  London.  Who  can  doubt 
that  this  young  man  passed  many  a  hard 
day,  and  often  fell  a  victim  to  his  perpetual 
foe — depression  ?  He  arrived  in  London  in 
1762,  and,  in  the  following  year,  made  an 
effort  to  secure  the  prize  offered  by  the 
Society  of  Arts.  The  Seven  Years'  War 
was  nearly  over,  and,  according  to  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine,  the  picture  of  the 
Death  of  General  Wolfe  had  been  painted 
before  Romney  left  Kendal.  He  seems  to 
have  been  awarded  the  second  prize  of  fifty 
guineas,  but,  owing  to  the  artist's  represen- 
tation of  Wolfe  wearing  silk  stockings  on 
the  battle-field,  and  to  certain  inaccuracies 
with  regard  to  the  regimentals  of  the  soldiers, 
the  Committee  reversed  its  decision,  and, 
awarding  the  fifty  guineas  to  J.  H.  Mortimer, 
gave  Romney  a  consolation  prize  of  twenty- 
five  guineas.  Romney's  friends  held 
Reynolds  as  largely  responsible  for  this 
reversal  of  judgment.  At  any  rate,  Romney 


16  Romney 

had  a  suspicion  that  he  owed  his  failure  to 
Reynolds,  whom  he  regarded  as  his  arch 
enemy  in  the  matter.  To  this  incident, 
therefore,  can  be  traced  that  coldness  which, 
for  the  future,  lay  between  these  two  great 
painters.  Sir  Joshua  would  never  allude  to 
Romney  by  name,  but  always  called  him, 
in  later  times,  "  The  man  in  Cavendish 
Square." 

Many  a  great  genius  has  had  to  endure 
years  of  hunger,  and  disappointment  which 
is  worse  than  hunger,  as  he  treads  the  thorny 
path  to  fame.  In  his  abode,  first  at  Dove 
Court,  near  the  Mansion  House,  and  later  in 
Bookbinder's  Lane,*  Romney  seems  to  have 
rapidly  won  that  measure  of  fame  that  gave 
him  the  necessary  financial  support  for  his 
schemes. 

These  included  the  prospect  of  a  visit  to 
Italy,  the  Holy  Land  of  Art,  the  paradise 
and  inspiration  of  painters.  Whereas  other 
men  had  journeyed  thither  easily  in  their 
youth,  Romney  was  obliged  to  wait  until 

*  Subsequently  Romney  resided  in  Mews  Gate, 
Charing  Cross ;  Gray's  Inn ;  Great  Newport  Street ; 
32,  Cavendish  Square  (where  he  painted  so  often  the 
charms  of  Emma  Hart) ;  and  Holly  Bush  House, 
Hampstead. 


Biographical  and  Personal  17 

he  was  nearly  forty  years  of  age  for  the 
coveted  opportunity.  What  loss  this  delay 
may  have  meant  for  the  British  world  of  art, 
we  are  utterly  unable  to  conceive.  Yet, 
when  we  read  of  Romney's  pictures  selling 
in  recent  times  for  fifty  thousand  pounds, 
sincere  regret  mingles  with  indignation  at 
the  thought  of  our  national  methods  in 
dealing  with  struggling  genius.  The  same 
age  that  suffered  Chatterton  to  poison  him- 
self -allowed  Romney  with  his  heaven-sent 
powers  to  toil  day  and  night  as  a  portrait 
painter  to  keep  body  and  soul  together  and 
build  up  a  fund  sufficient  for  the  visit  to 
that  source  from  which  alone  true  guidance 
could  be  won  for  greater  inspiration  and 
power.  We  must  remember,  also,  that 
periodically  Romney's  erratic  brother  Peter, 
also  a  portrait  painter,  was  a  drain  upon  him, 
materially  embarrassing  the  financial  situa- 
tion. However,  the  neglect  of  Romney's 
generation  was  nothing  new  in  our  history, 
and  has  been  too  often  repeated  in  later 
times,  so  that  it  is  superfluous  to  comment 
further  upon  what  Goldsmith  discovered  so 
long  ago. 

After  ten  years  of  labour  Romney  had 

c 


i8 


achieved  a  reputation  and  an  income. 
Already,  in  1764,  he  had  visited  France, 
where  he  had  studied  in  the  Orleans  Gallery, 
and  become  acquainted  with  Joseph  Vernet. 
His  house  in  Great  Newport  Street  witnessed 
the  throng  of  London  Society  now  seeking 
the  talent  of  the  man  who  had  become  the 
fashion,  even  to  the  detriment  of  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds.  The  support  given  to  the 
Romney  "  faction "  later  on  by  Lord 
Thurlow  was  a  great  asset  in  favour  of  the 
lesser  man  ;  but  already  his  list  of  pictures 
was  imposing,  and  he  was  sought  after  by 
eminent  people.  However,  at  this  point 
Romney  was  ready  to  risk  all — income,  the 
smiles  of  society,  position — in  pursuit  of  his 
great  ideal.  His  abnormally  rapid  brush 
had  provided  a  substantial  margin  to  his 
income,  and  from  this  he  drew  for  his  sojourn 
in  Italy.  It  is  impossible  for  the  average 
man  to  criticise  the  life  and  actions  of  a 
genius  like  Romney.  These,  to  be  compre- 
hended, must  not  be  judged  from  ordinary 
standpoints. 

Just  as  he  was  about  to  start  for  Italy,  in 
company  with  Ozias  Humphry,  the 
miniature  painter,  a  fever  prostrated 


Biographical  and  Personal  19 

Romney  for  several  months  ;  but  at  last, 
in  March,  1773,  he  set  out  with  his  friend, 
taking  with  him  a  letter  of  introduction  from 
Charles  Greville,  second  son  of  the  Earl  of 
Warwick,  to  his  uncle  Sir  William  Hamilton, 
ambassador  at  Naples.  Of  Romney's  work 
in  Italy  we  shall  have  to  speak  elsewhere. 
For  the  present  let  it  suffice  to  say  that  the 
period  of  his  stay  in  Rome  and  elsewhere  in 
Italy  saw  this  man,  now  approaching 
middle-age,  toiling  incessantly,  almost 
tragically,  to  overtake  time  and  snatch  from 
life  those  gifts  which  should  have  been  within 
his  reach  twenty  years  before.  It  was  too 
late.  As  we  shall  see,  the  visit  did,  indeed, 
profoundly  affect  his  subsequent  work,  but 
it  could  not  make  up  for  the  wasted  years. 
The  artist  who,  it  may  be,  was  gifted,  par 
excellence,  to  produce  creations  of  Fancy  and 
portray  the  facts  of  History,  returned  to 
London,  straitened  by  poverty,  forced  to 
free  brother  Peter  from  debt,  and,  as  it  were, 
start  life  anew  amid  financial  embarrass- 
ment. Hayley,  pausing  from  the  recollec- 
tions of  Rhymes  of  Art  by  Mr.  Shee,  the 
later  tenant  of  the  house,  tells  us  that  when 
Romney,  at  Christmas  1775,  took  possession 


20 


of  the  house  in  Cavendish  Square,  he  would 
wake  every  morning  with  a  painful  appre- 
hension of  not  finding  business  sufficient  to 
support  him.  "  These  fears,"  says  this 
poetic  biographer  (who  has  more  than  a 
touch  of  certain  characteristics  of  Harold 
Skimpole)  "were  only  early  flutterings  of 
that  incipient  hypochondriacal  disorder 
which  preyed  in  secret  on  his  comfort 
during  many  years."  Were  they?  If  so, 
many  another  man  has  suffered  from  "  that 
incipient  hypochondriacal  disorder"  which 
the  more  fortunately  situated  "  literary 
squire  "  could  not  possibly  understand. 

But  the  financial  clouds  soon. lifted.  The 
list  of  sitters  henceforth  includes  not  only 
the  names  of  the  fashionable,  but  also  the 
great  and  noble  of  our  race.  The  un- 
fortunate difference  between  Romney  and 
Reynolds  kept  the  former  outside  the  circle 
of  men  who  were  developing  the  Royal 
Academy,  and  to  some  extent  away  from 
the  comfort  of  royal  patronage.  Yet  his 
genius  supported  him  in  his  attitude  of 
aloofness. 

The  Duke  of  Richmond  sat  to  him,  and 
so  successful  was  the  portrait  that  at  the 


Biographical  and  Personal  21 

nobleman's  request  Romney  painted  Admiral 
Keppel,  Mr.  Burke,  Lord  George  Lennox, 
the  Hon.  Mr.  Darner,  Lord  John  Cavendish, 
and  others.  In  days  when  royal  patronage 
meant  so  much  he  painted  Mrs.  Fitzherbert. 
He  writes  to  his  son  that  Prince  William  has 
given  him  a  sitting,  and,  indeed,  from  these 
years  of  his  zenith  almost  till  the  end, 
Romney's  brilliant  genius  was  fully  recog- 
nised not  only  by  members  of  the  Royal 
Family,  but  by  people  so  diverse  in  their 
gifts  as  Garrick,  Sir  Hyde  Parker,  Gibbon, 
and  John  Wesley.  So  far  as  one  can  judge 
from  biography,  the  fault  of  the  estrange- 
ment between  Romney  and  Reynolds  lay 
quite  as  much  with  the  latter  as  with 
the  former,  and  was  based  upon  foolish 
prejudice,  dislike  and  jealousy. 

About  this  time  Romney  made  two 
friendships  which  profoundly  influenced  his 
life  and  genius.  One,  that  of  William 
Hayley  (a  vain,  but  well-meaning  poetaster 
and  literary  "  squire,"  who  figures  so  often 
and  so  unexpectedly,  here  and  there,  in  late 
i8th  century  life)  originated  in  1777,  and, 
undoubtedly  swayed  the  great  artist  for 
good  and  for  ill  to  the  end  of  his  career  ;  the 


22  Romney 

other,  begun  in  1782  and  enduring  also  till 
Romney's  death,  brought  to  him  a  source  of 
the  deepest  and  most  innocent  delight 
mingled  with  powerful  inspiration.  Those 
who  care  to  do  so  may  trace  the  career  of 
Amy  Lyon,  alias  Emma  Hart,  from  the 
position  of  maidservant  up  to  the  time  when 
she  figured  as  the  mistress  of  the  Honourable 
Charles  Greville,  favourite  nephew  of  Sir 
William  Hamilton. 

During  this  first  stage  of  her  life  came 
the  period  during  which  she  served  as  a 
living  advertisement  to  the  quack  Doctor 
Graham.  He  recommended  the  frequent 
use  of  mud  baths  ;  and  Vestina,  or  the 
Goddess  of  Health,  with  her  hair  elaborately 
dressed  with  powder,  flowers  and  feathers, 
and  wearing  two  ropes  of  pearls  on  her  naked 
neck  and  bust,  personified  Hygeia  in 
Graham's  Temple  of  Health  in  the  Adelphi. 
She  used  also  to  be  immersed  in  the  mud 
bath  and  the  public  paid  a  shilling  a  head  to 
see  the  immersion,  or,  if  they  pleased,  five 
shillings  to  view  the  emersion  !  After  she  had 
left  Graham's  service,  he  gathered  the  public 
in  Pall  Mall  by  the  display  and  employment 
of  his  grand  celestial  bed,  which,  fitted  with 


Biographical  and  Personal  23 

its  electrical  apparatus  and  richly  hung.stood 
upon  its  glass  legs  in  full  public  view. 

From  Greville's  protection  Emma  passed 
(against  her  will,  and,  indeed,  without  her 
knowledge)  to  the  possession  of  his  august 
uncle,  and  formed  then  a  liaison  that  ended 
in  matrimony.  Their  married  life — from  the 
days  of  its  association  with  the  author  of 
Vathek,  William  Beckford  (who  bought 
Romney's  Indian  Woman  to  hang  in  the  hall 
of  his  fantastic  palace-villa  at  Fon thill),  and 
throughout  the  glitter  of  the  days  of  the 
court  at  Naples  where  Nelson  came  on  the 
scene,  right  up  to  the  final  moment,  when, 
with  our  greatest  sailor  holding  his  hand, 
and  with  Lady  Hamilton  at  the  bedside, 
Sir  William  died  at  his  house  in  Piccadilly — 
forms,  in  conjunction  with  Emma's  former 
career,  an  almost  fantastic  romance.  One 
consideration  only  was  paramount  with 
Romney.  To  him,  an  artist,  this  woman 
came  as  a  ray  of  light  in  a  forest,  wakening 
into  beauty  by  its  illuminating  presence 
myriad  forms  of  life  which  before  lay  un- 
revealed.  Scandal,  after  the  usual  fashion, 
dealt  vilely  and  cruelly  with  this  association. 
Mrs.  Grundy  came  into  life  towards  the  end 


24  Romney 

of  the  i8th  century,  and  was  born  as  an 
adult  endowed  with  maturest  powers.  The 
world  seems  ever  waiting  for  such  bait,  like 
some  vicious  pike  in  a  weedy  pool.  Yet  we 
have  no  evidence  whatever  that  Romney's 
delight  in  his  new  sitter  was  other  than  that 
of  the  artist  in  an  inspiring  model,  or  that 
his  friendship  was  not  akin  to  a  fatherly 
interest.  At  the  moment  of  their  first 
meeting  he  was  forty-eight  years  of  age,  and 
she  was  about  nineteen.  One  thing  is 
certain.  Whenever  she  set  foot  in  his  studio 
Romney's  genius  blazed  into  splendour. 
Just  as  with  many  a  man  before  and  since, 
the  genius  of  George  Romney  was  vivified 
by  feminine  influence.  It  may  be  that  a 
regretful  sorrow,  due  to  the  difference  in 
their  ages  and  the  irksome  ties  that  fettered 
him,  added  to  the  charm  of  the  association. 
Portraits  and  sketches  followed  one  another 
in  rapid  succession.  Commissions  were 
refused ;  the  number  of  his  sitters  was 
reduced  that  he  might  absorb  himself  in  his 
work  for  his  "  divine  lady."  He  painted 
her  in  a  series  of  studies,  as  Circe,  Alope, 
Cassandra,  Euphrosyne,  Joan  of  Arc, 
Calypso,  the  Magdalene,  and  so  on,  till  her 


Biographical  and  Personal  25 

last  portrait — a  half-length — just  before  her 
marriage  in  1791,  with  Sir  William  Hamilton. 
When  she  left  England,  depression  lowered 
over  the  artist's  faculties.  He  painted,  and 
painted  powerfully,  but  a  settled  gloom  lay 
upon  him  mentally  and  physically.  When 
she  returned,  his  soul  revived,  and  then  once 
again  inspiration  poured  through  brain  and 
finger-tips.  There  is  no  need  to  attempt  to 
offer  explanation.  Biography  can  match 
the  phenomena  again  and  again. 

It  was  during  one  of  his  annual  visits  to 
Eartham,  in  Sussex,  the  residence  of  William 
Hayley,  that  George  Romney  met  William 
Cowper.  Cowper  and  Hayley  were  drawn 
together  by  the  resolve  of  certain  men  in 
those  days  to  edit  Milton's  works.  Hayley 
had  been  engaged  by  Alderman  Boydell  to 
write  Milton's  life.  Cowper  had  also  been 
mentioned  as  a  possible  author,  and  Hayley 
was  distressed  to  think  that  he  might  enter 
into  rivalry  with  William  Cowper.  He  sent 
the  poet  a  sonnet,  visited  him  at  Weston  in 
1791,  and  Cowper  returned  the  visit  the 
next  year — coming  thus  into  the  group  of 
remarkable  people,  such  as  Gibbon,  Thurlow, 
Flaxman,  Miss  Seward,  Romnev,  and  Blake, 


26  Romney 

who  were  in  the  habit  of  visiting  William 
Hayley  at  Eartham.  Undoubtedly  Hayley 
possessed  amiable  qualities.  For  Cowper 
and  Romney,  mind  was  attracted  by  mind 
and  bent  by  bent.  These  two  men  found 
many  similarities  in  each  other.  Romney 
was  susceptible  to  feminine  attraction  and 
sympathy  ;  so,  perhaps,  quite  as  much  was 
Cowper.  The  artist  was  inspired  to  work  by 
the  loveliness  of  Emma  Hart ;  the  poet 
wrote  under  the  inspiration  of  Theodora,  his 
cousin  ;  Mrs.  Unwin,  the  youthful  widow 
who  mothered  him ;  or  of  Lady  Austen,  the 
charming,  sprightly  guest  at  Olney.  Both 
men  suffered  alike  from  deep  mental 
depression .  Romney  was  now  experiencing, 
by  reason  of  approaching  age  and  the  fierce 
flames  of  mental  and  spiritual  ardour,  the 
darkness  of  a  despair  which  Cowper  had,  to 
his  cost,  known  periodically  from  childhood. 
Romney's  picture  of  Cowper  and  Cowper's 
sonnet  to  Romney  signify  the  manner  in 
which  these  two  artists  met  each  other. 

The  decline  of  Romney's  powers  dates 
from  the  moment  of  Emma  Hamilton's 
departure.  In  the  year  1791,  the  symptoms 
increased  and  developed.  There  were 


Biographical  and  Personal  27 

periods  of  revival.  Rest  and  change  pro- 
duced temporary  recovery  ;  but  extravagant 
schemes  for  pictures  designed  upon  a  huge 
scale  and  his  wild  fancy  for  planning  an 
enormous  house  are  symptomatic  of 
disease. 

Intermingled  with  such  fits  were 
depression,  irritation,  and  gloom*  which 
suggest  the  triumphal  emergence  of  mental 
forces  that  in  their  pre-natal  stage  had  given 
rise  to  the  haunting  pathos  one  finds  in  the 
original  portrait  painted  by  himself.  His 
son  persuaded  him  to  be  content  with  the 
purchase  of  a  house  on  Holly  Bush  Hill, 
Hampstead.  The  house  in  Cavendish 
Square  was  leased  to  Mr.  Archer  Shee,  then 
rising  into  fame.  A  visit  to  Eartham,  in 
1796,  caused  a  renewal  of  energy  ;  but  in 
the  following  two  years  the  cloud  of  despon- 
dency settled  finally,  never  to  be  lifted. 

Oppressed  with  failing  sight,  numbness  of 
the  hands,  and  a  continual  dizziness,  the 
giant  (by  reason  of  his  tremendous  aptitude 
for  work  as  well  as  for  his  genius,  one  thinks 
of  him  as  a  giant)  relinquished  the  struggle 

*  See  the  quotation  from  The  Gentleman's  Magazine 
on  page  n  of  this  book. 


28  Romney 

to  return  to  Mary  Romney,  who  for  so  many 
years  had  been  content  to  watch  supinely 
her  husband's  splendid  career.  As  we  have 
no  wish  to  dilate  upon  the  subject  of  their 
separation,  it  is  as  well  to  state  once  and  for 
all  the  impression  that  a  modern  reader 
gathers  from  the  material  at  his  disposal. 
All  Romney's  biographers  deal  with  the 
subject ;  some  at  length,  others  more 
briefly  ;  some  with  sympathy  born  of  com- 
passion ;  others  with  outspoken  harshness 
due  to  lack  of  understanding. 

We  believe  that  Mary  Romney  acquiesced 
in  the  wise  separation  that  left  her  husband 
free  to  follow  the  relentless  call  of  genius. 
Year  by  year  he  continued  to  contribute  a 
generous  sum  for  the  upkeep  of  his  family  ; 
he  visited  the  north  from  time  to  time  ;  he 
was  in  constant  correspondence  with  his  son, 
John  Romney,  who  in  order  to  rectify 
Hayley's  biography*  wrote  subsequently 


*  Hayley  commissioned  William  Blake  while  he 
was  at  Felpham  to  collect  the  material  for  this  life 
and  to  trace  all  the  scattered  pictures.  Blake's 
correspondence  with  Hayley  shows  that  his  heart 
was  in  the  work  and  throws  much  light  upon  the 
question  of  the  possession  of  the  pictures  at  that 
time. 


Biographical  and  Personal  29 

such  a  sympathetic  account  of  his  father's 
life.  Mrs.  Romney  realised,  no  doubt,  that 
she  was  in  every  respect  unqualified  to 
support  her  part  in  the  unequal  partnership. 
Their  marriage  had  been  hurried,  altogether 
unwise,  and  at  the  period  of  uncompre- 
hending youth. 

To  anyone  who  has  striven  to  understand 
the  inner  life  and  temperament  of  George 
Romney,  the  vulgar  and  ignorant  outcry 
against  his  association  with  Emma  Hart 
brings  a  sense  of  heaviness  and  sadness. 
Beauty  to  him  was  as  essential  as  the 
sunlight  to  the  flower.  He  was  as  God 
made  him.  The  word-picture  of  Romney, 
"listening  to  the  twanging  of  Hayley's 
lyre,  and  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the  cry  of  the 
poor  woman  fading  and  pining  away,  alone 
and  deserted  in  the  north,"  is  as  ludicrous 
as  it  is  unjust  and  untrue.  From  Tennyson 
down  to  the  author  just  quoted*  all  such 
over-zealous  searchers  for  immoral  causes 
are  frequently  wrong  in  their  suspicions,  and 
still  more  flagrantly  wrong  in  their  interpre- 
tation of  the  man  and  his  art.  One  wishes 

*  Dutton  Cook  in  'Romney  and  his  Paintings' 
in  Once  a  Week,  xvii.,  pp.  228,  260  (August,  1867). 


30  Romney 

sincerely  that  the  great  Poet  Laureate  had 
not  so  abused  his  powers  as  to  pen  the  false 
sentiment  that  breathes  throughout 
"  Romney 's  Remorse."  The  tone  of  the 
poem  rings  falsely  ;  the  argument  is  based 
upon  as  culpable  a  biography  as  was  ever 
written.* 

Why  should  Tennyson  pounce  upon 
Romney  and  pass  by  Shakespeare,  whose 
behaviour  was  equally  open  to  criticism  ? 
The  answer  is  that  even  Victorian  prudery 
dared  not  assail  the  greater  name.  We  much 
prefer  the  words  of  a  feminine  biographer  with 
reference  to  George  Romney  :f  "  And  now 
we  come  to  the  closing  lines  in  the  memoir 
of  George  Romney.  The  aim  has  been  to  tell 
the  story  of  his  life  as  he  lived  it :  and  though 
we  miss  the  homely  figure  of  the  north- 
country  wife  from  the  scenes  where  poets 
reigned,  there  is  no  incident  that  proves  that 
it  was  otherwise  than  agreeable  to  her.  She 
may  never  have  desired  to  join  him  in 
London.  To  do  so  in  those  days  meant  the 


*  "  One  of  the  most  tiresome  books  ever  written 
in  memory  of  an  eminent  man  "  (Ward  &  Roberts, 

P    55)- 

t  Hilda  Gamlin  :  George  Romney  and  his  Art. 


Biographical  and  Personal  31 

severance  of  accustomed  friendships  dearer 
than  any  attraction  that  could  be  offered 
from  an  untried  world.  She  is  said  to  have 
been  a  woman  of  great  good  sense,  and,  no 
doubt,  had  an  instinctive  dread  that  she 
would  be  out  of  her  sphere  in  an  element  of 
learning  that  surrounded  her  husband.  She 
and  their  only  living  child  were  well  provided 
for  by  him,  and  the  link  of  affection  was  un- 
broken, though  they  lived  so  far  apart." 

At  any  rate,  the  "  poor  woman  in  the 
north  "  faded  and  pined  away  so  very  slowly 
that  she  lived  to  the  age  of  ninety-six,  dying 
in  1823,  and  surviving  her  husband  by 
twenty-one  years.  It  is  stated  that  an  aged 
servant  who  died  fairly  recently  remembered 
the  old  lady  well,  and  asserted  that  her 
temper  was  bad.  Let  us  pass  by  the 
separation,  and  see  the  return  of  the  artist, 
and  Mary  Romney  bending  to  the  task  of 
soothing  her  husband's  last  years.  In  his 
letter  of  December,  1800,  George  Romney 
says  to  Lady  Hamilton,  "  I  feel  every  day 
greater  need  of  care  and  attention,  and  here 
I  experience  them  in  the  highest  degree." 

The  return  of  his  brother  James,  who  held 
the  rank  of  Colonel  in  the  East  India  Com- 


32  Romney 

pany's  Service,  failed  to  rouse  George 
Romney  from  the  mental  coma  into  which 
he  had  now  sunk.  With  a  brother's  love  he 
had  yearned  for  this  re-union,  but  now  that 
it  was  fulfilled  he  failed  to  recognise  the 
object  of  a  life's  affection.  After  a  long  and 
earnest  gaze  he  "  burst  into  an  agony  of 
tears,"  and  lapsed  into  complete  insensi- 
bility to  all  around  him.  He  passed  away 
on  the  I5th  November,  1802,  having  reached 
the  age  of  sixty-eight  years. 

The  best  concerted  schemes  men  lay  for  fame 
Die  fast  away  ;   only  themselves  die  faster. 

He  lies  buried  in  the  churchyard  of  Dal  ton, 
his  native  town.  John  Romney  wished  to 
raise  a  monument  in  the  church  to  the 
memory  of  the  great  artist,  but  Lord  George 
Cavendish,  the  lay  rector,  refused  to  grant 
permission.  The  monument  was  transferred 
to  Kendal,  where  Romney  had  breathed  his 
last.  As  we  have  seen,  Mrs.  Romney  died 
at  the  age  of  ninety-six,  in  April,  1823.  Sir 
Herbert  Maxwell  safely  conjectures  that 
"  hers  was  not  the  fiery  temperament  that 
swiftly  consumes  its  mortal  envelope." 


Biographical  and  Personal  33 

To  this  brief  biography  of  George  Romney 
it  is  necessary  to  add  a  few  remarks  as  to  his 
appearance,  character,  and  disposition.  Tail, 
with  dark  hair,  and  broad  strong  features, 
his  eyes  denoting  a  spirituality  and  power 
behind  them,  the  artist  appears  to  have  been 
capable  of  persistent  and  intensive  labour, 
and,  through  his  exalted  genius,  of  develop- 
ing the  intellect  that  had  suffered  so  much 
from  lack  of  early  education.  Inheriting 
his  father's  ability,  he  felt  drawn  to  art 
rather  than  to  music,  and  he  found  his  true 
happiness  in  the  expression  of  his  thought, 
feeling,  and  sentiment  in  his  wonderful 
pictures.  He  was  an  affable  and  tactful 
friend  with  qualities  that  won  for  him  the 
deep  affection  of  men  like  Cowper,  Blake, 
Adam  Walker,  Ozias  Humphry,  Cumber- 
land. They  all  loved  him,  and  the  last- 
mentioned  says  that  "  envy  never  drew  a 
word  from  his  lips  in  disparagement  of  a 
contemporary."  Lord  Chancellor  Thurlow 
and  Gibbon  the  historian,  in  a  different 
category,  held  him  in  high  esteem.  One 
even  seems  to  hear  in  the  words  of  the  aged 
John  Wesley  a  tone  of  more  than  admiration 
as  he  speaks  of  the  artist  and  his  powers. 
D 


34  Roniney 

Romney's  pitying  and  generous  nature 
prompted  him  to  love  children  and  they  in 
return  loved  him — a  splendid  tribute  ! 
None  but  a  lover  of  children  would  have 
been  vouchsafed  the  shy  yet  trusting  gaze 
with  which  his  portraits  of  them  greet  us,  as 
the  living  children  themselves  greeted  him. 
None  but  an  inspired  painter  of  children 
could  have  devised  a  method  all  his  own  to 
transfer  the  naive  directness  of  that  gaze  to 
his  canvas,  the  single  brush-stroke  of  warm 
colour  that  forms  the  shadow  of  the  lashless 
upper  eyelid,  a  device  that  is  well  seen  in  the 
portrait  of  a  Lady  and  Child  in  the  National 
Gallery,  or  in  the  charming  picture  of  the 
eight-year-old  Miss  Casson,  painted  in  1781, 
and  lately  re-discovered  by  Mr.  Kaines 
Smith.*  The  same  generosity  led  him  to 
pour  out  money  like  water  to  alleviate 
material  troubles,  as,  for  example,  when  he 
paid  £200  to  save  his  landlord  at  Pineapple 

*  This  picture,  which  the  Diary  shows  to  have 
been  painted  on  the  I5th,  iQth,  aist  and  22nd  April, 
1781,  and  which  is  described  as  a  three-quarter- 
length  in  the  Rough  Lists  of  John  Romney,  is 
entered  without  further  description  in  the  Catalogue 
Raisonni  of  Ward  &  Roberts.  It  is  now  repro- 
duced for  the  first  time  by  kind  permission  of  Mrs. 
F.  Davies,  the  owner. 


Biographical  and  Personal  35 

Court,  Kilburn,  from  financial  disaster.  He 
lived  in  seclusion  ;  with  the  exception  of 
Reynolds  he  appears  to  have  had  no 
enemies  ;  he  loved  to  help  those  of  his  calling 
who  were  less  successful  than  himself ;  he 
walked  along  the  path  of  life,  seeing  and 
loving  the  glories  of  nature,  himself  a  simple 
child  of  nature,  and  was  content  to  devote 
himself  to  humble  imitations  of  nature's 
beauty.  All  his  days  he  lived  worthily  as 
the  son  of  the  man  who  had  won  for  himself 
the  noble  title  of  "  honest  John  Romney." 
Unspoiled  by  success,  attentive,  while 
his  faculties  remained,  to  the  exacting 
claims  of  his  dear  mistress,  Art,  somewhat 
timid  and  nervous  in  his  humble  attitude 
towards  life  as  a  whole,  unable,  except  at 
moments  when  he  was  deeply  stirred,  to 
express  himself  as  befittingly  in  words  as  he 
could  in  colour,  Romney,  apart  from  his  own 
temperament,  seems  to  have  suffered  two 
great  hardships  in  life — one,  the  necessity 
imposed  upon  him  of  perpetually  dealing 
with  sitters  instead  of  ranging  fancy-free  in 
the  glory  of  the  spiritual  realm  ;  and  the 
other,  that  at  the  time  of  his  death  no  true 
and  sympathetic  account  of  his  career  was 


36  Romney 

given  forthwith  to  the  world,  but  that  his 
first  biography  was  spoken  by  the  irrespon- 
sible, clacking  tongue  of  the  phrase-hunter, 
William  Hayley. 


CHAPTER   II. 
TRAINING  AND  ASSOCIATION  WITH  ARTISTS. 

ROMNEY'S  portrait  of  himself  represents  a 
man  on  whose  face  the  vital  characteristics 
are  written  by  the  soul  within.  We  are 
aware  of  a  certain  peevishness  that  seems  to 
blend  with  every  other  quality,  spreading 
over  the  features  to  such  a  degree  that  one 
asks  oneself  whether  the  tendency  was 
inborn,  or  whether  the  incidents  of  life 
developed  this  dominant  trait. 

We  are  all  likely  to  err  in  an  attempt  to 
form  a  personal  estimate  of  ourselves  ;  and 
at  first  our  thought  suggests  that  Romney 
read  into  his  character  what  seemed  to  him 
to  be  the  prevalent  mood  of  his  life.  But 
the  man  was  not  simply  an  ordinary  reader 
of  character  and  a  student  of  physiognomy  ; 
he  was  pre-eminently  an  artist  ;  and  such  a 
prejudice  on  the  part  of  his  judgment  would 
most  certainly  be  corrected  by  the  pene- 

37 


38  Romney 

tration  of  the  artist's  vision.  To  stand 
before  a  portrait  of  a  great  artist  painted  by 
himself  is  either  to  behold  a  candid  revela- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  workman,  or  else  to 
behold  a  deliberate,  conscious  concealment 
of  unpleasant  or  weak  elements  in  the  face. 
In  such  a  portrait,  the  artist  takes  almost  the 
standpoint  of  God,  who  "  looketh  not  as 
man  looketh,"  for,  in  this  instance,  he  knows 
the  soul  behind  the  face  ;  he  sees  the  heart  as 
distinct  from  the  form  ;  the  subject  of  the 
picture  is  the  most  vital  to  him  of  all 
subjects  ;  for  it  is  himself. 

One  feels  before  this  portrait  that  Romney 
gives  us  honestly  and  deliberately  himself, 
and  the  beholder  prefers  to  judge  the  man 
from  his  personal  estimate,  before  he  trusts 
to  the  unintentional  deception  of  the  printed 
page.  In  this  respect  Romney  is  fortunate 
where  others  are  doomed  unheard  to  con- 
demnation. Whatever  man  may  say  of 
him,  here,  at  least,  is  his  character,  written, 
as  it  were,  by  his  own  hand,  and  accordingly 
one  draws  nearer  to  this  unfinished  record  to 
read  anew  the  man  and  his  life  as  it  showed 
when  eight-and-forty  years  had  definitely  set 
their  mark  upon  brow,  and  mouth,  and  eye. 


Training  and  Association  39 

The  mouth  and  eyes  tell  most.  The 
former  seems  almost  to  smile  at  the  spec- 
tator, suggesting  a  fund  of  humour  and 
pleasantry.  The  eyes  check  the  impression 
given  by  the  mouth,  and  rouse  a  sense  of 
sympathy,  even  of  pity,  in  one  who  looks 
deeply  into  them.  Under  their  arched  and 
somewhat  projecting  brows,  they  are  the 
very  doorway  to  the  soul  within,  but  they 
speak  to  us  of  no  peaceful,  restful  inner 
realm.  They  seem  actually  to  suggest  the 
dark  years  to  come — and  to  tell  plainly  of  a 
dreamland  far  removed  from  the  hard  and 
material  age  in  which  this  artist  moved. 
The  hair  above  the  high  and  spacious  brow 
is  still  plentiful,  with  a  tendency  to  curl, 
but  a  hint  of  greyness  proclaims  full 
maturity. 

The  firm,  full  chin  denotes  strength  of 
purpose  ;  yet  the  mouth  is  not  resolute,  but 
rather  whimsical,  with  laughter  not  far 
away.  One  begins  to  inquire,  "  Where,  then, 
does  this  peevishness  lie  ?  "  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  it  hovers  around  the  lips  and 
mouth.  A  sense  of  duality  arises  from  them. 
One  can  imagine  an  April  mood  within. 
Certain  little  lines,  shades,  hints,  speak  of  a 


4O  Romney 

prevalent  mood,  hidden  at  present  by  play- 
fulness, but  ready  to  break  forth.  In  life 
his  face  must  have  resembled  in  its  change- 
fulness  the  surface  of  one  of  Romney 's 
mountain  meres. 

Such  is  a  reading  of  Romney's  face,  and 
the  student  bears  it  in  mind  as  he  traces  the 
hesitating  steps  of  the  biographers  of  the 
past.  The  face,  somehow,  haunts  one  with 
its  wistfulness,  its  dream,  and  its  friendli- 
ness. If  only  one  could  have  known  the 
man  and  have  questioned  him  !  Just  as 
with  Charles  Lamb,  to  whom  we  have 
referred  somewhere  earlier  in  this  book,  so 
with  Romney,  it  is  the  life  in  the  eye  that 
attracts  and  holds.  Surely  those  eyes,  when 
living,  possessed  a  wonderful  power  and 
depth.  One  desires  earnestly  that  some 
contemporary  of  Romney's  would  speak  of 
the  message  that  sped  triumphant  from  the 
soul  within  the  gaze  to  the  very  hearts  of  his 
associates.  One  readily  accepts  the  state- 
ment that  in  company  with  friends  he  would 
sit  long,  absorbed  in  thought,  absent  from 
all  around  him,  till,  starting  suddenly  from 
his  seat,  he  would  give  vent  to  effusions  of 
fancy,  and  harangue  upon  the  subject  of  his 


Training  and  Association  41 

art  with  a  sublimity  of  idea  and  a  peculiarity 
of  expressive  language  entirely  his  own,  but 
in  which  education  and  reading  had  no 
share.  On  such  occasions  he  held  his 
audience  enrapt,  as,  in  a  hurried  accent  and 
an  elevated  tone,  with  tears  starting  from  his 
eyes,  he  poured  out  sallies  of  natural  and 
unaffected  genius. 

As  we  have  seen,  Romney  missed  the 
advantages  of  early  education.  We  repeat, 
very  deliberately,  advantages  rather  than 
disadvantages,  for  it  would  appear  that  all 
through  his  life  there  was  a  world  of  fantasy 
within  him  that  lacked  expression.  His 
pictures,  indeed,  attract  the  beholder,  but 
to  the  student  of  human  nature  his  one 
picture  of  himself  makes  a  greater  appeal 
with  its  sad  suggestion  of  that  realm  of 
imagination  lying  behind  the  artist's  eyes. 
His  consciousness  of  his  early  lack  of  edu- 
cation kept  him  from  the  tables  of  the  great 
with  the  exception  of  Lord  Thurlow's,  for 
the  Lord  Chancellor  and  old  schoolfellow  of 
William  Cowper,  knowing  the  greatness  of 
the  heart  as  well  as  the  talent  of  his  friend, 
and,  honouring  Romney  with  his  particular 
notice,  most  probably  exercised  befitting 


42  Romney 

tact.  John  Flaxman  tells  us  that  "  a 
peculiar  shyness  kept  him  from  association 
with  all  public  bodies,  and  led  to  the  pursuit 
of  his  studies  in  retirement  and  solitude 
which  allowed  him  more  time  for  observa- 
tion, reflection,  and  the  exercise  of  his  skill  in 
other  arts  connected  with  his  own.  And, 
indeed,  few  artists  since  the  fifteenth 
century  have  been  able  to  do  so  much  in  so 
many  branches  ;  for,  besides  his  beautiful 
compositions, — pictures  which  have  added  to 
the  knowledge  and  celebrity  of  the  English 
School,  he  modelled  like  a  sculptor,  carved 
ornaments  in  wood  with  great  delicacy,  and 
could  make  an  architectural  design  in  a  fine 
taste,  as  well  as  construct  every  part  of  the 
building." 

Here  then  was  a  man  who  was  ready  to 
leave  all  and  follow  art  simply  for  art's  sake, 
a  man  who  sought  to  draw  from  the  sources 
of  inspiration  within  himself  rather  than 
from  the  sources  that  lay  without.  How- 
ever, so  intricate  is  human  life  that  even  the 
most  exclusive  member  of  society  cannot 
stand  entirely  alone.  George  Romney's 
existence  seems  to  be  a  protest  against  con- 
ventionality :  and  yet  it  is  but  one  of  the 


Training  and  Association  43 

many  threads  that  go  to  form  the  general 
pattern  of  the  age  to  which  he  belonged. 
Still,  in  his  case  it  is  the  more  difficult  to 
assign  to  this  or  that  influence  in  his  life  any 
special  feature  of  his  art.  It  seems  beyond 
question  that,  up  to  the  age  of  twenty-one, 
his  bent  had  free  and  entirely  unrestrained 
control,  seeking  its  sustenance  from  the 
splendid  natural  world  around  him,  copying 
from  Leonardo's  Treatise  on  Painting,  and 
responding  to  the  encouragement  of  discern- 
ing but  unqualified  friendly  criticism.  After 
his  apprenticeship  to  Steele,  in  March,  1755, 
it  would  seem  that  he  but  exchanged  un- 
restricted liberty  for  a  "studio  drudgery," 
which  was  useful  for  its  lessons  of  persistent 
application  and  ah1  that  he  learned  of  the 
mixing  of  pigments.  If  the  story  of  Laurence 
Sterne's  admiration  of  young  Romney's 
talent  were  true  (it  was  reported  by  Cumber- 
land, but  denied  by  Hayley),  one  might 
readily  infer  that  already  the  apprentice 
displayed  a  talent  but  little  likely  to  profit 
by  the  instructions  of  an  ordinary  master. 
But  the  brief  association  between  Steele 
and  Romney,  cannot,  to  say  the  least,  have 
been  of  great  benefit  to  the  young  genius, 


44 


and  its  termination  left  him  again  unaided, 
but  free  to  carry  on  his  work  as  a  portrait 
painter  at  Lancaster.  In  that  town  his 
talent  won  the  sympathy  and  appreciation 
of  certain  influential  local  people,  especially 
of  Mr.  Walter  Strickland  of  Sizergh,  who  not 
only  employed  him  to  paint  family  portraits, 
but  also  permitted  him  to  range  at  liberty 
among  his  collection  of  pictures. 

At  this  period  Romney  set  himself  to  copy 
from  a  series  of  prints  after  the  Dutch 
masters,  and  it  was  from  the  sum  realised  by 
the  raffling  of  these  oil  copies  and  pasticci, 
some  twenty  in  all,  including  two  scenes 
from  King  Lear  and  one  from  Tristram 
Shandy,  that  the  young  man  was  able  to 
build  up  his  slender  savings  to  the  sum  of 
one  hundred  pounds. 

Is  it  an  exaggeration  to  say  that,  up  to 
this  point  in  his  life,  George  Romney  stands 
before  us  as  an  artist  who,  remote  from  great 
art  collections  and  the  great  works  of  art, 
set  himself  the  responsible  task  of  self- 
tuition  ?  Yet,  in  the  circumstances  of  his 
life,  what  else  could  have  been  the  case  ? 
Until  the  days  of  Reynolds  there  was  in 
England  no  school  of  painting  ;  and  the 


Training  and  Association  45 

only  inducement  likely  to  bring  artists  to 
these  shores  was  the  profit  to  be  gained  from 
portrait-painting.  The  art  of  landscape- 
painting  came  comparatively  late  in  the  day. 
If  Romney  had  been  reared  in  London  he 
would  have  lost  the  quiet,  but  long-enduring 
lessons  of  nature  in  her  wildest,  loveliest 
moods,  and  what  could  London  have  offered 
him  in  nature's  place  ?  Even  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds'  earlier  life  offers  but  a  similar  sort 
of  training  to  Romney's,  different  as  his 
associations  chanced  to  be.  We  find  the 
young  Reynolds  copying  Guercino,  becoming 
apprenticed  to  Thomas  Hudson,  quarrelling 
with  and  leaving  his  master.  It  was  not  until 
he  was  twenty-six  years  of  age  that  his  meet- 
ing with  Commodore  Keppel  gave  Joshua 
Reynolds  that  opportunity  to  travel  which 
he  employed  so  diligently  and  effectively. 

Romney  left  the  North  for  London  when 
he  was  about  twenty-eight  years  of  age. 
Reynolds  returned  to  London  from  Italy 
when  he  was  twenty-nine.  The  comparison 
is  entirely  to  the  disadvantage  of  Romney 
in  the  matter  of  opportunity.  While  he  had 
been  struggling  to  save  the  little  sum 
necessary  for  the  support  of  his  family  and 


46  Romney 

himself,  the  artist  whom  he  was  destined  to 
rival  had  flourished  amid  the  sunshine  of  the 
glorious,  leisured  life  of  Italy,  with  all  her 
stores  of  wealth  in  art  and  culture.  Now, 
almost  contemporaneously,  they  settled  in 
London.  How  different  in  status  ! 
Reynolds  in  Sir  James  Thornhill's  old  house 
in  St.  Martin's  Lane,  and  acquainted  with 
those  who  could,  at  his  request,  open  up 
aristocratic  society  for  him ;  Romney, 
possessed  of  his  little  fraction  of  the  £100, 
and  with  but  two  friends  in  the  whole 
of  London — both  north-countrymen,  Mr. 
Braithwaite,  of  the  Post  Office,  and  Mr. 
Greene,  an  attorney  at  Gray's  Inn.  How 
amazingly  does  Romney's  talent  triumph 
in  these  conditions  !  One  thinks  of  the 
youthful  Shakespeare  in  lowly  capacity  at  a 
London  Theatre,  and  the  University  Wits  ; 
one  recalls  the  contemporary  figure  of  Oliver 
Goldsmith,  and  the  coldness  of  an  indifferent 
society.  Then  one  turns  to  see  Romney 
toiling  for  ten  long  years  before  he  can  go  to 
visit  that  sunny  land  which  held  so  much 
his  genius  longed  to  behold  and  study  at 
first-hand. 
Those  ten  years  witnessed  unremitting 


Training  and  Association  47 

toil  at  portrait-painting,  but  they  provided 
very  slight  means  of  study  save  that  which 
could  be  snatched  from  labour  necessary  for 
life's  needs.  Charles  Lamb  tells  us  that  he 
was  chained  to  "  the  desk's  dead  wood." 
Romney  exclaims  to  Hay  ley  :  "  This  cursed 
portrait-painting.  How  I  am  shackled  with 
it."*  Yet,  in  1760  London  witnessed  the 
first  public  exhibition  by  British  artists  in 
the  rooms  of  the  Society  of  Arts  in  the 
Strand ;  the  next  year  there  were  two 
exhibitions — one  at  the  Society  of  Arts, 
afterwards  enrolled  as  the  Free  Society  of 
Arts,  the  other  at  Spring  Gardens,  and 
known  later  as  the  Incorporated  Society  of 
Artists.  London  could  at  least  offer  Romney 
a  view  of  contemporary  art,  and  his  journey 
to  Paris,  in  September,  1764,  enabled  him  to 
visit  exhibitions  and  see  the  art  treasures  of 
palaces  and  churches — in  short,  all  those 
places  where  he  could  study  the  old  masters. 

*  He  must,  however,  have  had  ample  opportunity 
of  experiencing  the  "  joy  of  others  "  at  his  power 
displayed  through  this  cursed  art.  Richard  Cumber- 
land, the  playwright,  was  so  delighted  with  his 
portrait,  that  he  wrote  verses  extolling  Romney's 
praise.  Dr.  Johnson  praised  these  verses  and  told 
Reynolds — probably  not  to  his  pleasure — 'that  the 
poem  would  bring  Romney's  name  before  the  public. 


48  Romney 

Having  free  access  to  the  Orleans  gallery, 
he  passed  much  of  his  time  there,  being 
greatly  delighted  with  the  pictures  of  Le 
Sueur.  Six  brief  weeks  of  freedom,  with  the 
first  real  chance  of  his  life  to  study  where  he 
pleased  !  He  was  now  about  thirty  years 
of  age.* 

"  Romney,  shy,  retiring,  studious  and 
contemplative,  conscious  of  all  the  dis- 
advantages of  a  stinted  education,  of  a  habit 
naturally  hypochondriac,  with  aspen  nerves 
that  every  breath  could  ruffle,  was  at  once 
in  art  the  rival  and  in  nature  the  contrast 
of  Sir  Joshua."  These  are  the  words  of 
Richard  Cumberland,!  one  of  Romney's  first 
patrons — a  man  who  gave  him  ten  guineas 


*As  we  shall  see  elsewhere,  his  opinion  of  con- 
temporary French  art  was  far  from  high.  "  The 
taste  for  painting  and  the  art  itself  are  at  the  lowest 
ebb  ;  simplicity  they  call  vulgar,  and  pure  elegance 
passes  for  gravity  and  heaviness.  Everything  must 
be  done  with  the  air  of  a  dancer  or  an  actor.  .  .  . 
They  are  a  people  that  have  no  idea  of  simplicity, 
and  are  totally  devoid  of  character  and  feeling." 
He  instances  their  degeneracy  by  their  indifference 
to  the  great  masters  of  the  past. 

f  Richard  Cumberland  figures  in  Sheridan's  Critic 
as  Sir  Fretful  Plagiary.  He  was  suspected  of  being 
the  person  who  hissed  at  Tony  Lumpkin  just  as 
Goldsmith  was  entering  at  the  fifth  act  of  She 
Stoops  to  Conquer. 


National  Portrait  Caller) 


George  Romney 


Training  and  Association  49 

instead  of  the  desired  eight  for  a  three- 
quarter  portrait,  took  Garrick  to  see  it,  and 
won  from  Garrick,  the  great  friend  of 
Reynolds,  praise  and  sympathetic  advice. 
One  thinks  of  Romney's  face  in  that  portrait 
of  himself,  and  believes  that  much  of  what 
Cumberland  says  is  true  ;  but  one  misses  in 
the  description  at  least  three  features — the 
iron  determination  underlying  the  artist's 
lips,  the  delicate  winsome  humour  that 
plays  so  lightly  on  those  lips,  and  the  dream 
world  in  those  haunting  eyes.  The  Society 
of  Arts  awarded  him  a  consolation  prize  for 
The  Death  of  General  Wolfe,  giving  the  first 
and  second  prizes  to  other  competitors 
deemed  more  worthy.  It  is  clear  that  seven 
years  before  this  Romney  had  his  ideas  of 
Reynolds'  work  ;  for  he  says  in  a  letter 
written  when  he  was  twenty-three  and 
offering  criticism  upon  his  own  critics : 
"  The  first  sort  that  presents  itself  are  those 
who,  having,  perhaps,  read  some  flimsy 
French  authors  on  taste,  heard  of  Hogarth's 
line  of  beauty,  and  seen  a  few  of  Reynolds' 
prints,  condemn  all  pictures  that  are  not 
twisted,  loose  and  careless."  Now,  he 
suspects  Reynolds  of  influencing  the  judges 


50  Romney 

in  their  decision,  and  for  ever  afterwards 
these  two  are  separated,  and  their  respective 
followers  are  the  devotees  of  the  one  or  the 
other.  "  All  the  town,"  said  Lord  Thurlow, 
"  is  divided  into  two  factions,  the  Reynolds 
and  the  Romney,  and  I  am  of  the  Romney 
faction." 

In  Romney  one  finds  a  sturdy  British 
independence.  There  appears  to  be  no 
necessity  to  seek  for  ill-will  either  on  the  side 
of  Reynolds,  or  of  Romney.  Aloofness, 
divergence  of  view,  opposition  of  personality 
— these  may  have  been,  and  probably  were, 
factors  in  the  lack  of  fellowship  ;  but  if  one 
were  obliged  to  seek  for  the  reason  for  the 
marked  aversion,  it  would  be  to  Romney 
one  would  turn  first  rather  than  to  Reynolds. 
There  is  a  quality  in  certain  Celtic  tempera- 
ments that  would  gladly  accompany  its 
possessor  to  the  gutter  and  .death  before  it 
would  yield  one  iota  in  the  way  of  admiring 
inferiority,  or  bend  the  knee  to  position  and 
rank.  It  is  quite  possible  that  Romney 
possessed  that  quality,  which  many  a  man 
possesses  even  in  these  latter  days.  But,  if 
that  were  so,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that, 
over  and  above  such  a  bias,  he  had  views  of 


Training  and  Association  51 

his  own  with  regard  to  art,  and  was  deter- 
mined to  uphold  his  opinion  even  though  by 
so  doing  he  shut  himself  off  from  royal 
patronage  and  the  favour  of  the  great. 
Persistently  he  refused  to  send  his  pictures 
to  the  Royal  Academy,  and  it  was  not  until 
1871  that  any  of  his  work  was  exhibited  by 
that  august  body. 

Was  this  the  petulance  of  "  a  weak,  ill- 
balanced  and  over-emotional  man  "  ?  Was 
it  due  to  the  advice  of  the  meddlesome 
Hayley  ?  A  man  may  suffer  perpetually 
from  the  pen  of  a  biographer.  Every 
discriminating  person  knows  that  accurate, 
honest,  and  candid  biography,  more 
commonly  met  with  nowadays  than  formerly, 
has  been  one  of  the  rarest  things  to  find  in 
our  literature.  Again,  one  claims  that  the 
explanation  of  Romney's  attitude  would 
appear  to  be  more  easily  found  written  upon 
his  portrait  than  within  the  covers  of  the 
biographies  of  Hayley,  or  of  John  Romney. 
The  man  who,  in  matrimony,  took  that 
decided  step  which  left  his  life  free  for  the 
pursuit  of  Art  was  certainly  no  weakling  ; 
and  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  he  divorced 
himself  from  the  little  group  of  influential 


52  Romney 

men  who  might  have  furthered  his  material 
interests.  Almost  at  the  same  period  of  his 
life  he  relinquished  his  practice,  and,  giving 
up  all,  went  to  Italy  to  study  art  for  art's 
sake.  One  feels  grateful  to  him  for  leaving 
a  standard  whereby  we  may  check  the 
judgments  of  those  biographers  who  actually 
knew  him  in  the  flesh,  as  well  as  of  the  many 
who  have  drawn  more  or  less  from  those 
original  contributions.  If  the  unfinished 
portrait  of  himself,  by  himself,  may  be 
accepted  as  a  true  and  definite  represen- 
tation of  his  physiognomy,  one  asserts,  with 
confidence,  that  the  word  "  weak  "  may  be 
ruled  out  from  any  account  of  this  painter's 
temperament. 

"  Mr.  Romney  was  the  maker  of  his  own 
fortune  and,  inasmuch  as  he  allowed  him- 
self not  sufficient  leisure  to  execute  many 
designs  which  the  fertility  of  his  genius  con- 
ceived, may  be  said  so  far  to  have  been  more 
attentive  to  that  than  to  his  fame.  Whilst 
his  mind  was  pregnant  with  magnificent 
ideas,  and  his  rooms  and  passages  loaded 
with  unfinished  portraits,  he  had  not 
resolution  to  turn  away  a  newcomer.  .  .  . 
If,  therefore,  it  was  the  love  of  gain  that 


Training  and  Association  53 

operated  on  him  upon  these  occasions,  it  was 
a  principle  that  counteracted  its  own 
object  ;  but  there  was  also  a  weakness  in  his 
nature  that  could  never  make  a  stand 
against  importunity  of  any  sort ;  he  was  a 
man  of  a  most  gentle  temper,  with  most 
irritable  nerves.  He  was  constantly  pro- 
jecting great  undertakings  for  the  honour  of 
his  art,  and  at  the  same  time  involving 
himself  in  new  engagements  to  render  them 
impracticable."* 

In  this  brief  extract  from  an  obscure 
source  we  get  the  text  for  the  remaining 
years  of  this  great  painter's  life.  We  may 
in  all  fairness  repudiate  the  love  of  money 
for  money's  sake  ;  we  may,  all  the  more 
readily,  seize  upon  the  statement  that  his 
mind  was  pregnant  with  magnificent  ideas — 
most  of  which  never  came  to  birth. 

Here  was  a  man  who  made  his  own 
fortune.  At  the  age  of  thirty-eight  he  left 
his  already  lucrative  position  of  a  fashionable 
painter,  wholly  abandoned  the  field  to  his 
rivals,  and  spent  three  years — from  the 
autumn  of  1772  to  the  winter  of  1775 — 

*  Lancashire   Biographical   History,    Some  Account 
of  George  Romney. 


54  Romney 

seeking  true  guidance  and  genuine  inspiration 
from  the  heart  of  Italy.  So  far  as  we  can 
judge,  it  was  just  the  same  in  Italy  as  else- 
where. He  studied,  lived  in  seclusion,  and 
worked  closely  at  his  copies  of  the  Masters, 
being  profoundly  inspired  by  antique 
sculpture.  His  diligence  knew  no  inter- 
mission. He  was  aware  that  he  lacked 
style  ;  he  had  hitherto  toiled  for  a  livelihood. 
These  three  years  must  have  fled  all  too 
rapidly,  but  they  fed  his  nature,  corrected 
his  views  of  art,  fostered  the  innate  world  of 
fancy  while  at  the  same  time  they  developed 
and  refined  his  taste.  For  the  future  he 
determined  to  try  to  achieve  grandeur  and 
simplicity.  Mr.  William  Roberts,  answering 
Mr.  Justice  Darling,  said  :  "  I  prefer  the 
earlier  period  part  after  Romney  came  back 
from  Italy.  I  think  the  earlier  period  much 
more  attractive  than  the  later  period  because 
it  is  more  spontaneous.  I  regard  the  period 
soon  after  he  came  back  from  Italy  as 
Romney's  best  period."* 

Impressions  received  in  early  life  endure  ; 
the  experience  of  later  life  sows  seeds  that 

*  The  Cult  of  Old  Paintings  and  the  Romney  Case  : 
R.  W.  Lloyd,  p.   r  80. 


Training  and  Association  55 

strike  no  deep  root.  If  Romney  had  visited 
Italy  in  the  early  twenties  of  his  life,  we 
should  have  had  in  him  a  genius  capable  of 
giving  far  more  than  portraits  of  his  con- 
temporaries. If  Romney  had  lived  in  the 
following  century,  we  should  possess,  in  all 
probability,  splendid  traces  of  his  fertile 
imagination.  As  it  was,  he  returned  from 
Italy  to  rival  Reynolds,  but  was  unable  to 
find  the  true  outlet  for  his  transcendent  con- 
ceptions. "  A  child  of  nature  who  had  never 
seen  or  heard  of  anything  that  could  kindle 
his  genius,  or  urge  him  to  emulation,  and 
who  became  a  painter  without  a  proto- 
type " — he  seems  to  have  owed  but  little  to 
association  with  his  confreres,  but  much  to 
the  heaven-sent  gift  within  him.  We  are 
struck,  as  we  follow  his  life,  at  the  display  of 
true  taste  and  judgment  which  were  not 
brought  to  him  by  education  but  by  the 
genius  that  guided  his  destiny.  Time  after 
time  he  turns  to  the  pages  of  Shakespeare 
and  Milton  to  find  in  those  great  thinkers 
and  singers  the  talisman  that  shall  unlock 
his  own  genius  and  liberate  the  mute  im- 
prisoned pageant  which  yearned  to  trace  its 
passage  over  the  canvas.  If  he  had  been 


56  Romney 

tree  to  follow  fancy,  he  would  gladly  have 
escaped  from  the  necessity  of  making 
money.  But  he  was  utterly  unbusinesslike, 
and,  moreover,  his  attempts  along  the  lines 
of  pure  imagination  were  sporadic  and 
desultory.  Yet  a  cursory  glance  at  the 
subjects  of  his  many  pictures  will  show  how 
frequently  he  made  an  effort  to  leave  con- 
vention and  develop  originality ;  an 
examination  of  the  pictures  themselves, 
whenever  one  gets  the  good  fortune  to  see 
such  works,  suggests  powerfully  the  presence 
of  a  genius  that  might  have  been  transcen- 
dent in  realms  of  powerful  imaginative 
conception.  Romney's  ability  to  depict 
airy  lightness  comes  out,  perhaps,  most 
clearly  in  the  beautiful  group  of  the  Gower 
children,  and  this  portrait,  by  reason  of  its 
arcadian  charm  and  ease,  also  exemplifies 
the  debt  he  owed  to  the  lessons  he  learned 
from  Italy.  In  his  encouragement  of 
Boydell's  attempt  to  establish  an  English 
School  of  Historical  Painting  we  see  his  deep 
desire  to  do  work  of  this  nature  ;  and  it  was 
not  Romney's  fault  that  the  fiery  outbreak 
of  the  French  Revolution  hopelessly 
destroyed  the  scheme.  As  it  was,  in  the 


Training  and  Association  57 

days  before  the  great  revival  of  interest  in 
Shakespeare's  works,  this  artist  gave  the 
world  his  rendering  of  The  Tempest,  Shake- 
speare Nursed  by  Tragedy  and  Comedy,  and 
The  Infant  Shakespeare  Attended  by  the 
Passions. 

The  thought  of  Romney  working  to 
interpret  Shakespeare's  plays  strangely 
fascinates  the  mind.  We  have  elsewhere 
drawn  a  parallel  between  the  Elizabethan 
dramatist  and  the  Georgian  artist.  Each 
came  from  a  remote  country  district,  each 
wrestled,  Jacob-like,  with  fortune,  and 
achieved  fame  ;  each  left  wife  and  children 
at  the  call  of  destiny.  The  parallel  grows 
more  striking  when  Romney  passed  under 
the  compelling  influence  of  Emma  Hart, 
afterwards  Lady  Hamilton.  One  thinks  of 
Mary  Fitton  and  of  the  impenetrable 
mystery  of  the  sonnets.  The  Elizabethan 
poet  and  the  Georgian  painter  both  felt  the 
incentive  that  so  often  stirs  man  to  employ 
his  ripest  powers  of  genius.  In  all  proba- 
bility W.  E.  Henley  has  come  as  near  to  the 
true  explanation  of  affairs  as  it  is  possible 
for  us  to  arrive  when  he  says  in  his  Century 
of  Artists,  "  The  dominant  note  in  Romney's 


58  Romney 

life  is  one  of  sexual  tragedy.  The  worship 
in  paint  which  he  professes  for  Emma  Lyon 
is  comparable  of  its  kind  and  in  its  degree 
with  that  which  Dante  practised  for  Beatrice 
in  poetry.  That  he  was  not  materially  her 
lover  is  suggested  by  the  fact  that  he  never 
tires  of  painting  her.  The  triumphant  male 
does  not  commonly  disperse  his  energies  in 
celebrating  the  peculiarities  of  his  conquest. 
There  have  been  examples  to  the  contrary, 
of  course  ;  but  good  taste,  good  feeling,  the 
instinct  of  sex,  the  necessities  of  art,  are 
generally  on  the  other  side,  and  for  one  such 
outcry  of  full-fed  satisfaction  and  delight  as, 
say,  Rossetti's  Nuptial  Sleep  (which  may  or 
may  not  be  genuine)  there  are  a  thousand  such 
voicings  of  mere  desire,  as,  say,  Adelaida  and 
Romney's  Lady  Hamilton  passim." 

It  was  in  July  of  the  year  1782,  when 
Romney  was  forty-eight  years  of  age,  that 
the  Honourable  Charles  Greville,  the  nephew 
of  Sir  William  Hamilton,  brought  his  mistress 
Emma  Hart  (ne'e  Amy  Lyon)  to  sit  for  the 
artist.  A  new  planet  swam  into  his  ken, 
and  for  the  future,  as  long  as  reason  reigned 
supreme,  this  woman  (when  they  met,  only 
a  girl  of  about  nineteen)  was  Romney's 


Training  and  Association  59 

"  divine  lady,"  and  the  very  centre  of  his 
inspiration. 

If  you  get  simple  beauty,  and  nought  else. 
You  get  about  the  best  thing  God  invents. 

Artists,  poets,  musicians,  people  of  rank  and 
fortune,  men  of  influence,  vied  with  one 
another  to  celebrate  her  beauty.*  Romney, 
on  his  part,  set  aside  orders  and  commissions 
in  order  to  study  and  express  the  charms 
that  his  delicate  and  observing  taste  so 
clearly  discovered  and  idealized.  All  the 
vulgar  and  unjust  calumny  of  the  world 
that  has  been  cast  around  this  association 
is  aspersion  utterly  devoid  of  fact.  Like 
Shakespeare,  like  thousands  of  lesser  men, 
Romney,  the  artist,  had  found  a  grace  that 
opened  before  his  eyes  avenues  along  which 
his  genius  could  wander  towards  its  paradise, 
and  he  took  the  path  with  joy  and  ecstasy. 
Not  one  of  his  pictures  of  this  beauty  affords 
the  slightest  suggestion  of  indelicacy  :  and 
how  much  less  valuable  would  be  Romney's 
offering  to  his  country  without  the  pictures 
of  Emma  Hart  ? 

In  the  ten  years  from  1775  to  1785,  that 

*  Ward  &  Roberts'  Romney  :  A  Catalogue  Raisonnt. 


60  Romney 

is  to  say,  in  the  years  following  his  visit  to 
Italy,  and  especially  the  exercise  upon  him 
of  Correggio's  influence,  the  brush  of  Romney 
was  employed  upon  the  portraits  of  the  most 
famous  people  of  England — fair  women, 
statesmen,  divines,  men  of  eminence  in  their 
professions.  He  was  earning  in  a  twelve- 
month the  sum  of  four  thousand  pounds, 
but  he  was  dissatisfied.  It  was  at  this  very 
period  that  he  referred  to  "  this  cursed 
portrait  painting."  Probably  he  felt  that 
the  powers  within  him  were  circumscribed 
by  the  limitation  of  portraiture,  a  mere 
chronicle  of  the  faces  of  men  and  women 
around  him.  He  carped  at  the  very  means 
which  achieved  his  fame  and  which  have 
brought  down  to  our  own  day  the  memory 
of  his  genius — a  genius  whose  true  value  is  yet 
to  be  estimated.  For  there  are  those  who  feel 
that  Romney's  work  has  not  as  yet  won  the 
full  recognition  of  which  it  is  worthy. 

From  the  year  1782  onwards  he  felt  the 
comfort  of  the  inspiration  that  flowed  from 
the  grace  and  beauty  of  Emma  Hart. 
When  he  lost  her  temporarily  in  1791  he 
was  exceedingly  depressed.  But  the  sun- 
light returned.  "  Since  she  has  resumed  her 


Training  and  Association  61 

former  kindness,  my  health  and  spirits  are 
quite  recovered."  So  much  did  his  happi- 
ness depend  upon  the  exercise  of  his  artistic 
faculties.  Cowper,  in  his  Sonnet  to  Romney, 
bears  testimony  to  an  important  fact — that 
Romney  does  not  merely  represent  a  form 
and  semblance,  but  reveals  personal 
character  in  his  portraits  : 

Not  the  form   alone 

And  semblance,  but,  however  faintly  shown, 
The  mind's  impression,  too,  on  every  face. 

But  not  all  his  visits  to  Hayley's  home  at 
Eartham,  the  society  of  eminent  clients, 
treasured  friends,  kindred  spirits  such  as 
Cowper,  the  promise  of  young  and  talented 
life  as  in  the  case  of  Flaxman,*  who  took  a 
lodging  in  London  "  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  our  dear  Romney,"  neither  success  nor 
failure  could  arrest  the  definite  decline  that 
had  clearly  set  in  by  these  years ;  though 
there  are  instances  of  his  work  at  this  time 
which  show  no  decline,  as,  for  example,  his 
Milton  of  1792. 

*  Flaxman  said,  "  I  always  remember  Mr. 
Romney's  notice  of  my  boyish  years  and  productions 
with  gratitude  ;  his  original  and  striking  conversa- 
tion, his  masterly,  grand,  and  feeling  compositions 
are  continually  before  me.  and  I  still  feel  the  benefits 
of  his  acquaintance  and  recommendation." 


62  Romney 

The  death  of  Reynolds  in  1792,  leaving 
Romney  as  it  did  the  foremost  place  among 
contemporary  British  artists,  stimulated  him 
to  further  effort.  In  the  following  year  he 
wrote  to  his  brother  to  say  that  his  health 
was  not  constant,  that  his  nerves  gave  way, 
and  that  he  had  no  time  to  go  in  quest  of 
pleasure  to  prevent  decline  of  health.  He 
adds  that  his  hands  are  full,  and  that "  I  shall 
regret  the  necessity  of  forbearing  to  take  new 
faces.  There  is  a  delight  in  the  novelty 
greater  than  in  the  profit  gained  by  sending 
them  home  finished,  but  it  must  be  done." 

In  the  overleaping  ambition  of  his  later 
years,  vast  schemes  as  impossible  of  realisa- 
tion as  the  plan  of  Chaucer  for  the  Canter- 
bury Tales,  or  of  Spenser  for  the  Faerie 
Queene,  we  see  more  than  mere  unconsidered 
ambition.  What  is  hinted  at,  in  that 
portrait  of  himself,  of  germs  that  might  take 
root  and  grow,  was  by  this  time  becoming 
manifest.  It  has  been  asserted  that  he  was 
reflected  in  the  picture  painted  by  Sir  Martin 
Archer  Shee*  as  a  "  restless  egotist  con- 

*  There  is  a  reproduction  of  this  picture  in 
Putnam's  Monthly  and  The  Critic,  vol.  2  for  April- 
Sept.,  1907,  p.  517- 


Training  and  Association  63 

tinually  hardened  to  the  sufferings  he  did 
not  behold,  selfish  increasingly,  and  in- 
creasingly desponding,  passing  now  into  an 
old  age  not  much  to  be  respected — his 
sharpened  features  shaped  into  a  scowl  of 
bitterness,  certainly  of  complete  disappoint- 
ment." 

This  estimate  of  the  last  few  frail  years 
may  be  just  or  unjust.  We  usually  prefer 
to  judge  the  man  or  woman  in  maturity,  and 
not  when  the  fruit  has  passed  beyond  that 
stage.  His  later  letters  point  to  remaining 
grace  in  his  temperament,  and  the  amiable 
qualities  which  so  endeared  him  to  his 
friends  surely  could  not  entirely  disappear 
"  while  yet  the  taper  glowed."  We  need 
not  stop  to  consider  the  point,  for  with  the 
decline  of  his  powers  there  naturally  ceased 
any  permanent  influence  from  without ;  his 
ideas  conceived  upon  so  vast"  a  scale  were 
just  extravagant  schemes  impossible  of 
achievement  and  destined  never  to  be 
completed. 

In  Romney  we  see  what  Richard  Cumber- 
land described  as  "  the  master  of  his  own 
fortune,"  and,  so  far  as  we  can  judge  from 
this  appreciation  of  Romney  by  his  dis- 


64  Romney 

criminating  friend,  in  spite  of  the  subsequent 
neglect  which  befell  Romney,  there  seems 
to  have  been  also  a  real  understanding  by 
many  people  in  his  own  lifetime  of  the  artist's 
greatness,  although,  curiously  enough,  as 
we  have  said,  the  student  finds  even  then 
an  unwillingness  to  make  any  definite 
attempt  to  estimate  the  extent  of  that 
greatness.  "  He  was  a  man  too  great  to  be 
consigned  to  oblivion  ;  but  the  task  of  doing 
justice  to  his  abilities  is  not  a  light  one.  .  .  . 
It  is  not  the  annals  of  the  man,  but  the 
discussion  of  his  art  that  constitutes  the 
difficulty  ;  the  events  of  his  life  are  soon 
told ;  but  the  emanation  of  his  genius 
should  be  traced  with  precision,  and  that 
demands  both  knowledge  of  his  work  and 
acquaintance  with  his  art."* 


*  Memoirs  of  Mr.  George  Romney,  by  Richard 
Cumberland,  in  The  European  Magazine,  vol.  43. 
(June,  1803). 


CHAPTER    III. 
STYLE,  DEVELOPMENT,  CHARACTERISTICS. 

THE  student  of  Romney  finds  a  decided 
interest  in  examining  the  opinions  of  writers 
upon  this  great  artist.  Probably  in  no  other 
instance  is  there  more  diffidence  in  the 
expression  of  opinion.  Even  the  most 
enthusiastic  of  his  supporters  introduce 
saving  clauses,  which,  in  the  event  of  a 
change  of  public  opinion,  shall  excuse  the 
writer  from  having  unreservedly  lavished 
praise  upon  the  subject  of  his  pen. 

We  have  mentioned  elsewhere  the  warm 
praise  conferred  upon  Romney  by  one  or  two 
of  his  contemporaries  ;  the  reader  is  aware 
of  the  indifference  with  which  his  work  was 
regarded  earlier  in  the  igth  century ;  and 
most  of  us  have  an  idea  of  the  large  prices 
fetched  in  modern  days  by  those  same 
pictures.  In  1805,  Long,  "  the  artistic 
surgeon,"  purchased  the  picture  of  Lady 
F  65 


66  Romney 

Hamilton  as  Circe  for  a  trifle  ovei  £15.  He 
"  improved  "  the  work  by  painting  into  the 
background  two  wolves  and  a  panther  ;  yet, 
in  1888,  this  "  improved  "  work  of  art  sold 
for  over  four  thousand  pounds — a  larger 
sum  than  the  artist,  quick  though  he  was 
with  his  brush,  earned  at  his  best  period  in  a 
whole  year.  It  is  quite  easy  to  calculate 
Romney's  fame  in  money  terms.  In  1807 
his  portrait  of  Mr.  John  Lowther  sold  for 
5s.  ;  in  1913  Anne,  Lady  de  la  Pole  fetched 
the  sum  of  £20,370.  In  the  Hamilton 
Palace  Sale  of  1919  a  Romney  portrait  of 
The  Misses  Beckford  realised  the  astounding 
sum  of  52,000  guineas. 

If  we  apply  this  test  of  sales  we  find  a 
steady  rise  in  his  prices  from  the  'fifties  of 
last  century  onward  to  our  own  day.  The 
Daily  Telegraph  of  4th  February,  1922,  tells 
how  a  man  at  a  sale  in  Whitehaven  bought 
three  portraits  for  less  than  a  sovereign. 
Two  were  by  Tilly  Kettle,  "  an  inoffensive 
eighteenth-century  portrait  painter,"  the 
third,  unframed,  was  of  a  boy  and  girl,  and 
bore  no  artist's  name.  Forty  years  later  a 
local  artist  persuaded  the  owner  to  send  this 
unframed  canvas  to  Christie's.  It  was 


National  GMery 


George  Romney 


Style  and  Development  67 

acclaimed  as  a  Romney  and  fetched  the 
price  of  £6,500  guineas.  Even  the  Kettle 
sold  for  205  guineas,  and  thus  "  Romney 's 
fame  wreathed  itself  enhancingly  around  the 
shade  of  his  contemporary." 

The  attitude  of  the  critics  has  been 
constant  in  its  divided  nature.  During 
Romney's  life  John  Flaxman,  R.A.,  and 
Thomas  Phillips,  R.A.,  were  both  eulogistic, 
the  former  warmly  so,  the  latter  more 
impartially  and  perhaps  with  sounder  judg- 
ment. Richard  Cumberland  was  clearly 
aware  of  his  friend's  greatness,  but  was  quite 
at  a  loss  to  express  fully  his  reasons  for  his 
opinions.  However,  his  estimate  of  Romney, 
although  the  shortest  of  the  three  biographies 
that  appeared  soon  after  the  artist's  death, 
is  by  far  the  most  reliable  and  most  free 
from  prejudice.  Horace  Walpole,  who 
cherished  no  especial  love  for  Reynolds,  and 
might  presumably  have  leaned  towards 
Romney,  only  refers  to  him  once  or  twice  in 
his  wonderful  letters,  and  evidently  did  not 
hold  him  in  high  esteem.  Passing  over  the 
long  period  of  neglect  which,  although  it 
speaks  for  itself,  is  partly  explained  in  the 
next  chapter  of  this  book,  we  arrive  at  the 


68  Romney 

nineteenth  century,  only  to  find  a  similar 
disparity  in  the  estimates  of  modern  critics 
upon  the  man's  works.  There  is  the  same 
unwillingness  to  blame  thoroughly,  or  praise 
outright,  the  same  inclination  to  safeguard 
against  the  possibility  of  a  future  revulsion 
of  feeling.  Either  we  have  not  yet  arrived 
at  a  true  estimate  of  George  Romney 's  work 
(which  indeed  seems  to  be  the  more  likely 
state  of  affairs)  or  else  the  sum  total  of  hi? 
virtues  is  to  be  culled  from  the  criticism 
that  blows  so  hot  and  so  cold  around  his 
reputation. 

Still,  it  would  appear  that  the  ordinary 
individual,  free  from  prejudice  and  simply 
aware  that  a  picture  pleases  or  displeases, 
and  unaware,  perhaps,  of  preconceived 
notions  derived  from  former  schools  of 
thought  and  judgment,  has  consistently 
taken  Romney  into  favour,  In  the  artist's 
lifetime  this  class  was  formed  by  the  sitters, 
and  their  friends  and  acquaintances  who 
saw  the  portraits  ;  in  our  days  it  is  com- 
posed of  the  larger  class  of  that  public 
which,  in  recent  years,  owing  to  the  institu- 
tion and  development  of  art  galleries  and 
collections,  is  slowly  but  surely  forming  its 


Style  and  Development  69 

own  judgment,  irrespective,  to  a  very  large 
degree,  of  the  opinion  of  the  critic,  or  of 
those  little  circles  of  cunning  art  dealers, 
who,  for  the  sake  of  enhancing  sale  values, 
employ  those  skilled  in  the  task  to  write  up 
the  work  of  certain  men  with  a  view  to 
profit.  One  of  Romney's  sitters  said  :  "  I 
fancy  I  called  up  my  good  looks  to-day  : 
where  they  came  from  I  don't  know,  but 
my  picture  is  certainly  much  improved.  All 
seem  satisfied  with  it.  I  have  reason  to  be, 
for  it  is  handsomer  than  ever  I  was  in  my 
life."  The  artist,  with  delicate  subtlety, 
had  clothed  his  sitter  with  a  "  beauty  " 
which  won  her  good  opinion,  and  also  that 
of  her  friends.  The  writer,  looking  at  one  of 
Romney's  pictures  in  the  Tate  Gallery, 
overheard  a  bystander  remark  that,  in  his 
opinion,  the  comparison  between  Romney 
and  Reynolds,  with  regard  to  the  two 
pictures  concerned,  was  in  every  respect  in 
favour  of  Romney,  in  form,  expression, 
colour  effect,  and  the  laying  on  of  the 
pigments.  Where,  at  present,  is  any  critic 
who  would  be  so  bold  as  to  advance  such  a 
claim  in  the  world  of  art  ? 

In  what  essentials  does  this  popularity  of 


70  Romney 

Romney  consist,  and  what  is  it  about  his 
style,  development,  and  characteristics  that 
has  achieved  a  success  which  one  of  the 
greatest  writers  upon  Romney  declares  has 
given  him  not  only  a  hold  upon  our  own 
generation,  but  one  which  will  continue  as 
long  as  our  art  endures  ?  These  are  no 
easy  questions  to  answer.  In  reality  they 
were  the  unexpressed  questions  that  lay  in 
Richard  Cumberland's  mind  when  he  wrote 
from  his  heart  the  contributions  which  he 
felt  were  demanded  by  the  death  of  his 
friend. 

We  may  safely  assume  that  Romney's 
development  underwent  a  rapid  growth 
during  his  visit  to  Italy.  We  have  tried  to 
show  how  serious  were  the  limitations  of  his 
art  up  to  that  point,  when,  by  his  own 
industry,  he  was  enabled  to  indulge  himself 
in  the  satisfaction  of  that  deep  craving  of 
his  soul — to  see  the  masters  of  art  at  first- 
hand. If  we  consider  his  age  at  the  time  of 
his  visit,  it  would,  at  first  sight,  appear  a 
tremendous  omission  to  ignore  all  that  he 
had  painted  previously  ;  but  while  we  need 
not  ignore,  nor  in  the  least  neglect  such  work, 
yet  so  lamentably  had  his  genius  suffered  for 


Style  and  Development  71 

want  of  training  and  culture  that  it  is  only 
fair  to  Romney  himself  to  judge  him  mainly 
by  the  work  that  left  his  hands  after  the 
expansion  of  his  views  of  art  due  to  his 
journey  to  Italy.  His  previous  attempts 
had  been  the  outcome  of  pure  genius  ;  his 
subsequent  works  show  that  same  primordial 
genius  restrained  and  enhanced  by  the 
accepted  canons  of  art.  Thomas  Phillips, 
in  the  old  days,  and  Mr.  Roberts,  in  recent 
times,  both  refer  to  the  excellence  of  the 
work  done  by  Romney  in  the  ten  years 
after  his  sojourn  in  Italy.  "  The  purity  and 
perfection  of  ancient  sculpture  appear  to 
have  made  the  deepest  impression  upon  his 
mind ;  and  he  afterwards  assiduously 
cherished  the  taste  he  then  imbibed.  .  .  . 
Hence  grandeur  and  simplicity  became  the 
principal  objects  of  his  ambition  ;  he 
perceived  these  qualities  distinctly,  and 
employed  them  judiciously,  even  whilst 
imitating  nature  in  his  most  usual  occupation 
— portrait  painting."* 

From   the   outset   Romney   had   worked 
directly  from  nature,  with  the  small  excep- 

*  Thomas  Phillips,  in  A.  B.  Chamberlain's  George 
p.  374. 


72  Romney 

tion  of  his  attempts  at  copying  from  old 
masters,  which  we  have  noted  elsewhere. 
The  purple  distances  of  the  splendid  land- 
scape that  lay  about  him  in  his  infancy  and 
youth,  the  ever-changing  surface  of  the 
lakes,  the  pageant  of  the  wide  sky,  in  short, 
all  the  charms  of  nature  in  her  most  splendid 
moods,  wrought  their  effect  into  his  soul. 
Again,  throughout  his  life,  he  painted  direct 
from  the  human  form,  and  his  pictures  are 
the  representation  of  an  artist  whose 
inspiration  worked  unchecked  and  un- 
restrained up  to  the  time  of  his  visit  to 
Italy.  The  change  that  is  noticeable  after 
that  period  of  close  and  intensive  study  is  all 
in  the  direction  of  a  more  studied  grace,  and 
beauty,  and  feeling  for  colour.  His  ten- 
dency to  rebel  against  the  convention  of 
dress  and  fashion  is  more  displayed  in  the 
drapery  of  his  female  figures.*  In  the 
letters  written  as  he  went  out  to  Italy  he 
commented  somewhat  curiously  upon  what 
he  describes  as  the  degeneracy  of  French 
taste  and  the  failure  of  the  contemporary 

*  See,  however,  Essays  on  Art  by  John  Hoppner, 
R.A.,  who  states  that  Romney's  draperies  are  more 
suitable  for  sculpture  than  painted  portraits. 


Style  and  Development  73 

French  School  to  absorb  the  best  from  the 
Italian  masters.  He  was  welcomed  in 
France  by  Joseph  Vernet,  who  took  him  to 
the  Louvre  ;  but  the  remark  referred  to 
shows  that  Romney  knew  but  little  of  the 
development  of  French  art  in  the  earlier 
part  of  his  own  century,  of  the  work 
of  Bonchardin  and  Pigalle  in  sculpture, 
of  Gabriel  in  architecture,  of  the  work  of 
the  Sevres  factory,  of  Boucher  and  the 
Gobelins,  of  Greuze,  of  Nattier.  He  pre- 
ferred Le  Sueur  to  Watteau.*  In  Italy  he 
studied  for  long  periods  the  work  of  Vandyck, 
Paul  Veronese,  Correggio ;  he  wrote  from 
Bologna  on  the  work  of  Caracci  ;  at  Venice 
he  came  under  the  sway  of  Titian  ;  again  at 
Parma  he  renewed  his  deep  interest  in 
Correggio.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that  he 
also  looked  at  art  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  sculptor.  Accordingly  his  later  pictures 
do  not  simply  speak  of  a  deeper  knowledge 
of  colour  and  colour  effects  ;  they  tell  as 
plainly  of  changed  methods  of  production; 
they  announce  Romney 's  taste  in  his 
selection  of  those  adornments  which,  from 

*  Ward  and  Roberts :  Romney  :  A  Catalogue 
Raisonnt. 


74  Romney 

his  point  of  view,  shall  most  strikingly  reveal 
and  illustrate  the  charm  of  his  subject.  It 
has  been  pointed  out  that,  apart  from 
portrait  painting,  his  compositions  exemplify 
his  endeavour  to  attain  simplicity,  expressed 
in  dignified  and  beautiful  character,  while, 
at  the  same  time,  nature  shall  stand  forth 
in  lively  guise.  His  study  of  Grecian 
sculpture  is  blended,  therefore,  with  art,  and 
thus  his  tendency  to  devote  his  spare  time 
to  the  other  arts  cognate  with  painting  told 
constantly  upon  his  production. 

The  public,  in  viewing  one  of  Romney's 
pictures,  is  not  concerned  so  much  with 
standards  of  art,  and  cares  but  little  for  the 
terms  of  the  critic.  To  the  ordinary  person 
Romney  appeals,  and,  it  would  appear,  will 
continue  to  appeal,  because  his  emotion  is 
manifested  through  the  grace  of  his  art. 
Romney,  like  Laurence  Sterne  and  Fanny 
Burney,  lived  in  the  age  of  sentiment  :  and 
precisely  as  that  age  with  all  its  inclination 
is  revealed  through  certain  forms  of  litera- 
ture, so  in  this  great  artist  the  sway  of  senti- 
ment is  shown  in  feature  as  well  as  in  form. 
Hayley  tells  how  Romney's  lips  quivered 
with  emotions  of  pity  at  the  sight  of  distress, 


Style  and  Development  75 

or  at  the  relation  of  a  pathetic  story. 
Cumberland  narrates  that  Romney  was 
prone  to  tears.  Elsewhere  we  learn  how 
this  silent,  retiring  man  would,  at  times, 
when  deeply  stirred  by  some  remark  in  the 
conversation  of  his  friends,  depart  from  his 
usual  habit  of  silence,  and,  like  Charles  Lamb 
on  certain  marked  occasions,  pour  forth  in 
his  own  striking  and  natural  phraseology  an 
eloquence  and  knowledge  which  not  only 
surprised  and  astonished  his  hearers,  but 
held  them  spellbound  at  this  manifestation 
of  a  power  which  generally  lay  concealed. 
Sentiment  was  the  talisman  that  unlocked 
the  stores  of  wealth  within  Romney 's  heart 
and  soul.  D.  S.  MacColl  has  said  that  "  a 
new  face  set  Romney  no  new  problem."* 
By  this  he  probably  means  that  as  a  rule 
Romney  was  not  concerned  to  read  the 
revelation  of  character  in  the  lineaments  of 
the  pictures  his  sitters  brought  to  him.  He 
was  simply  concerned  with  his  feminine 
sitters  in  capturing  what  the  face  might  offer 
of  beau ty  and  grace.  It  has  been  charmingly 
suggested  that  the  reason  for  this  was  that 

*  Saturday  Review,  June  9th,  1900. 


76  Romney 

he  was  in  love  with  loveliness,  and  that  he 
found  his  inspiration  in 

The  witchery  of  eyes,  the  grace  that  tips 
The  inexpressible  douceur  of  the  lips. 

This  witchery  and  this  grace  he  found  in 
women  and  children  ;  he  gave  it.  to  the 
world  in  such  pictures  as  that  of  Lady  Sligo, 
Lady  Bell  Hamilton,  and,  perhaps,  especially 
in  the  delicate  and  joyous  innocency  that 
almost  is  felt  breathing  from  the  portrait  of 
The  Gower  Children. 

Was  it  something  more  than  mere  accident 
that  brought  into  Romney's  life,  at  a  time 
when  his  conceptions  of  beauty  had  under- 
gone such  transformation,  the  charm  and 
fascination  of  Emma  Hart  ?  There  is  no 
doubt  that  Romney  was  one  of  those  silent 
men  who  can  better  express  by  action  than 
by  word  the  working  of  the  heart  and  brain  ; 
but  like  such  men  he  probably  felt  more 
deeply  because  of  the  want  of  adequate  and 
appropriate  language  to  relieve  the  sway  of 
inward  passion  and  storm.  He  had  missed 
early  culture  and  education.  His  letters  tell 
very  plainly  what  had  been  his  deprivation 
in  this  respect.  Yet,  although  language  was 
mute,  feeling  was  dominant.  Once,  at  least, 


Slyle  and  Development  77 

he  speaks  in  tones  that  unmistakably 
translate  the  mood  within.  As  he  was  about 
to  leave  Rome  he  visited  Mount  Viterbo  to 
catch  the  glory  of  the  city  of  the  Seven  Hills, 
and  his  words  reveal  clearly  the  depths 
within  :  "  My  affections  began  to  revive, 
and  something  hung  about  my  heart  that 
felt  like  sorrow  which  continued  to  increase 
till  I  reached  the  summit  of  Mount  Viterbo. 
I  arrived  there  about  half  an  hour  before 
the  Vetturino  ;  indeed,  I  had  hastened  to  do 
so,  as  well  knowing  it  would  be  the  last  time 
I  should  see  Rome.  I  looked  with  an  eager 
eye  to  discover  that  divine  place.  It  was 
enveloped  in  a  light  vapour,  as  if  the  rays  of 
Apollo  shone  with  greater  lustre  there  than 
at  any  other  spot  on  this  terrestrial  globe. 
My  mind  visited  every  place,  and  thought  of 
everything  that  had  given  me  pleasure, 
and  I  continued  some  time  in  that  state 
with  a  thousand  tender  sensations  play- 
ing around  my  heart,  till  I  was  almost 
lost  in  sorrow  —  think,  O  think,  my 
dear  Carter,  where  you  are,  and  do  not 
let  the  sweets  of  that  divine  place  escape 
from  you  ;  do  not  leave  a  stone  unturned 
that  is  classical,  do  not  leave  a  form 


78  Romney 

unsought    that    is    beautiful,    nor   even    a 
line  of  the  great  Michael  Angelo." 

With  such  an  insight  into  this  man's  heart 
of  hearts,  one  cannot  wonder  that  the  critic 
finds  that  Romney  was  sensitive  to  a  greater 
degree  than  Reynolds  and  Gainsborough  to 
the  pure  grace  of  line,  but  was  more  fre- 
quently preoccupied  with  a  refined  conscious- 
ness of  womanly  beauty,  only  a  little  less 
meretricious  than  the  beauty  sought  after  by 
Greuze.  "  Lacking  as  he  did  the  consum- 
mate technical  skill  of  these  two  great  masters 
(i.e.,  Reynolds  and  Gainsborough),  he  yet 
had  the  gift  of  seizing  and  fixing  on  his 
canvas  that  strange  evanescent  spirit  of 
female  beauty,  that  Fata  Morgana  of 
painting,  which  greater  artists  than  Romney 
have  seen,  but  failed  to  secure."*  "  His 
draperies  are  noticeable  for  exceeding 
beauty,  but  it  is  the  beauty  of  sweet  sim- 
plicity, and  of  a  simplicity  not  painfully 
sought  for,  but  quickly  found.  There  is 
admirable  grace  in  the  easy  concord  of 
those  large  folds.  It  had  not  been  the  aim 
of  Gainsborough  ;  it  was  beyond  Reynolds  ; 

*  Lionel  Cust  in  The  Magazine  of  Art. 


Style  ami  Development  79 

its  inspiration  was  more  from  Greece  than 
from  Rome.  The  drapery  was  not  gorgeous, 
but  slender  and  severe,  even  in  all  the 
exquisiteness  of  its  flow  ;  its  folds  scanty 
rather  than  voluminous  ;  it  answered  so  to 
Flaxman's  ideal,  and  his  ideal  was  the 
highest.  His  art  deals  neither  with  the 
subtleties  of  intellectual  character,  nor  with 
the  tasks  of  minutely  imitative  painting, 
and  in  characterizing  it  the  first  word  to  be 
used  is  grace,  and  almost  the  last  is  grace."* 
Upon  this  sensitive  spirit,  this  being,  able 
to  quiver  with  emotion,  and  before  these 
discerning  eyes,  there  came  the  form  of  a 
woman  whose  beauty  of  face  and  lines  of 
form  appealed  to  every  artist  and  poet  who 
beheld  her.  To  Romney's  sentimental 
nature  there  appeared  at  this  juncture  the 
very  embodiment  of  this  sentiment.  To 
this  man  who  was  in  love  with  loveliness, 
was  revealed,  in  the  flesh,  perfection  of 
feminine  form  and  beaut}'.  If  his  ordinary 
woman-sitter  found  her  beauty  strangely 
and  subtly  enhanced  and  refined,  as  his 
brush  portrayed  her  charms  upon  his  canvas, 

*  Frederick  Wedmore,  quoted  by  A.  B.  Chamberlain 

in  George  Romney. 


8o  Romney 

what  would  this  "  divine  lad}'  "  find  in  his 
representations  of  her  contour,  carriage,  and 
gesture  ?  It  matters  not,  indeed,  what  she 
found  :  it  is  rather  what  her  admirer  and 
worshipper  discovered  and  portrayed. 
Romney  may  have  lacked  concentration  ; 
he  may  have  frittered  away  his  genius  upon 
a  host  of  ill-conceived  projects  ;  he  may 
have  cried  out  upon  "  this  cursed  portrait 
painting."  In  all  probability,  through  the 
utter  deficiency  of  his  early  training,  the 
world  has  lost  some  of  its  greatest  pictures  ; 
but  the  Sublime  and  the  Beautiful  of  a 
sentimental  age  have  been  caught  and 
handed  down  to  us  by  this  artist  of  sentiment. 
We  may  never  see  these  pictures  of  Emma 
Hart  collected  and  grouped  together  in  one 
place  ;  the  world  has  apparently  lost  that 
opportunity  ;  but,  if  it  were  possible  to  do 
so,  one  would  then  see  the  culmination  of 
this  great  painter's  work  along  the  lines  on 
which  it  was  destined  to  reach  its  highest 
form. 

It  is  interesting  enough  at  this  point  to 
seek  for  confirmation  of  Romney's  view  with 
regard  to  Emma  Hart's  beauty  and  grace. 
We  are  told  that  she  proved  to  be  a  moving 


Style  and  Development  81 

spirit  with  contemporary  artists  and  poets  ; 
but  anyone  who  wishes  may  read  more 
definitely  the  effect  she  produced  upon 
certain  powerful  minds  and  intellects  at  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century.*  Other 
artists  than  Romney  painted  her  portrait, 
although  Lord  R.  Gower  estimates  that 
George  Romney  painted  her  a  hundred 
times.  Goethe,  passing  from  Rome  to  Sicily, 
says  that  Tischbein,  the  German  artist,  is 
at  work  upon  her  portrait,  and  then,  with 
manifest  delight  the  poet  describes  her 
qualities  and  the  joy  he  has  in  her  presence. 
"  She  exhibits  every  possible  variety  of 
posture,  expression,  and  love,  so  that  at  last 
the  spectator  almost  fancies  it  a  dream." 
..."  One  beholds  her  in  perfection,  in 
movements,  in  ravishing  variety,  all  that 
the  greatest  of  artists  have  rejoiced  to  be 
able  to  produce."  Later  on  Goethe  calls 
her  a  most  beautiful  wife,  "  a  masterpiece  of 
the  great  artist  nature."  Other  writers  bear 
similar  testimony.  Lord  R.  Gower  gives 
repioductions  of  two  representations  of  her 
— one  by  the  famous  Italian  Rega  ;  the 

*  Article  in  The  Anglo-Saxon  Review,  Vol.  VI.  (by 

Lord  Ronald  Sutherland  Gower). 
G 


82  Romney 

other  (found  by  Lord  R.  Gowcr  in  Rome) 
by  an  unknown  artist.  Gower  adds  :  "Of 
all  the  women  who  may  be  termed  historical 
beauties  Emma  Hart  was  the  most  beautiful. 
Emma  has  the  admiration  of  Romney,  the 
great  Sir  Joshua,  Thomas  Lawrence,  and 
Goethe. 

Without  any  intention  of  depart.mentalis- 
ing  Romney 's  work,  it  is  possible  for  us  to 
divide  the  time  of  his  artistic  output  into 
three  main  periods,  with  a  fourth  during 
which  his  genius  struggled  even  more 
ineffectively  to  free  itself  from  the  gathering 
clouds  of  his  malady.  Throughout  these 
periods  his  talent  flowed  persistently,  but 
while  the  earlier  years,  up  to  the  visit  to 
Rome,  reveal  his  native  genius,  yet,  during 
that  visit,  and  for  about  ten  years  afterwards, 
his  work  was  clearly  improved  and  broadened 
by  the  impressions  he  received  from  Italian 
sources,  while  in  the  third  period  the  beauty 
of  Emma  held  him  in  thraldom — a  thraldom 
which  resulted  in  those  wonderful  portraits 
which  reveal  his  divine  subject  in  so  many 
entrancing  aspects.  "  She  could  be  arch, 
innocent,  seductive,  and  simple  ;  a  child, 
and  a  coquette,  angel,  and  wanton."  What 


Style  and  Development  83 

ever  title  he  gave  to  the  picture,  Lady 
Hamilton  as  a  Bacchante,  Lady  Hamilton  as 
Nature,  whether  she  figures  as  Mirth,  as 
Ariadne,  as  St.  Cecilia,  or  a  sempstress,  out 
of  the  portrait  steals  the  inspiration  that 
caught  his  genius  and  translated  it  into  these 
superb  creations.  For  Romney,  at  least, 
feminine  beauty  became  personified,  and 
passed  from  being  a  mere  haunting,  baffling, 
impossible  dream,  a  dazzling  will-o'-the-wisp, 
into  the  face  and  form  of  a  real  and  living 
woman — Galatea,  as  it  were,  stepped  from 
the  realm  of  the  imagination.  He  had 
painted,  and  was  to  paint,  the  portraits  of 
the  great  and  noble.  He  was  never  so  en- 
grossed as  when  he  was  employed  in  figuring 
the  grace  and  beauty  of  high-born  and 
delicate  women  ;  but  now,  like  the  prophet's 
rod,  the  super-charm  of  this  ideal  sitter 
swallowed  all  his  other  admirations,  for  grace 
was  added  to  grace,  and  beauty  to  beauty. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  in  the 
portrait  of  Emma,  Lady  Hamilton,  we  have 
the  consummation  of  Romney 's  art.  That 
there  are  outstanding  exceptions  nobody 
would  care  to  deny.  Among  his  earlier 
work  we  may  single  out,  for  example,  The 


84  Romney 

Parson's  Daughter  ;  from  his  later  achieve- 
ments The  Margravine  of  Anspach  ;  but  the 
very  soul  of  his  power  is  depicted  in  the 
"  refined  lusciousness  "  of  his  goddess  in  art. 
Pictures  appeal  in  various  ways  :  it  is 
often  a  matter  of  individual  choice  which  is 
to  be  selected  as  the  "  best "  of  a  man's 
work,  but  possibly  few  of  Romney 's 
pictures  would  appeal  more  than  his  Nun.* 
Kneeling  before  the  figure  of  a  saint,  just 
where  the  light  falls  strongly  on  her  upturned 
face,  with  her  hands  lying  crossed  across  her 
breast,  the  Nun  lifts  pleading  eyes  towards 
Heaven.  Over  her  loosened  hair  flows  a 
veil  that  offers  a  contrast  with  those  dark 
locks,  and  in  its  delicacy  almost  merges  with 
the  purity  of  the  light  and  the  whiteness  of 
the  bosom.  Although  it  is  suggested,  the 
full  beauty  of  the  contour  of  the  lower  limbs 
is  partly  lost  in  the  folds  of  the  dark  gown. 
But  for  two  reasons  the  picture  seems 
remarkable  ;  firstly,  in  that  it  offers  more 
especially  an  exquisite  rendering  of  the 
perfect  beauty  of  that  oval  face  with  all  its 
latent  womanliness,  and,  secondly,  for  the 

*  Messrs.  Ward  and  Roberts  say  that  the  Nun  does 
not  represent  Emma  Hart. 


Style  and  Development  85 

flood  of  light  which  falls  not  only  on  the  face 
and  breast  of  the  suppliant,  but  also  upon 
the  delicate  sculpture,  and  sweet  petals  of 
flowers  in  the  vases  on  the  ledge,  and 
partly,  also,  on  a  basket  of  roses  on  the  floor. 
One  thinks  of  a  later  picture,  Ecce  Ancilla 
Domini,  and  sees  in  this  eighteenth-century 
masterpiece  a  figure  of  a  very  human  woman, 
passionately  real,  but  spiritually  transcen- 
dent in  her  perfect  pose  amid  that  pure 
white  glow  of  ecstatic  radiance.  We  find 
the  same  representation  of  an  oval  face  in 
other  pictures,  notably  in  that  which  shows 
Lady  Hamilton  sitting  with  her  hands 
lightly  finger-tipped  together  on  her  knees, 
dressed  in  a  simple,  light  dress  with  a  full 
ample  skirt,  and  wearing  a  Pamela  hat  tilted 
negligently  upon  unbound  hair  which  flows 
gracefully  over  her  shoulders.  But  in  this 
very  different  study  one  misses  the  wonder 
of  the  lustrous  eyes  ;  for  in  the  picture  of 
Emma  the  face  is  bent  downwards  as  though 
the  sitter  were  lost  in  tender  reflection,  and 
the  fringed  lids  hide  those  twin  worlds  of 
tender  mystery. 

It  ma)'  be  that  some  day  the  world  will 
receive,  as  a  compensation  for  its  inability 


86  Romney 

to  visit  Romney's  superb  productions 
grouped  together  in  one  place,  a  series  of 
good  reproductions  of  the  third  and  most 
splendid  phase  of  his  power  ;  for  a  careful 
study  of  these  pictures  would  enable  the 
student  more  definitely  to  understand  and 
reverence  this  master's  complex  gifts.  In 
pose  and  expression,  in  robe  and  drapery, 
in  the  arrangement  of  lock  and  tress,  whether 
lying  loose  or  rippling  beneath  hat  or  veil, 
in  the  display  of  the  attractions  of  face  and 
figure,  mouth  demure  or  roguish  in  its 
witchery,  showing  the  white  teeth  between 
the  parted  lips,  in  dimple  of  cheek  or  arm, 
we  have  nothing  in  our  masters  which 
approaches  these  sympathetic  interpreta- 
tions of  what  Romney  saw  in  his  "  divine 
lady."  It  is  all  so  delicate,  so  winsome,  so 
sweetly  pure,  and  yet  so  truthfully  human, 
that  the  student  of  these  pictures  is  brought 
close,  very  close,  into  communion  with  the 
artist  and  his  subject,  and  seems  to  have 
known  them  both  personally,  to  have  heard 
them  discuss  the  details  which  were  to 
produce  these  glories  of  our  art,  to  have 
cherished  an  affection  for  them  as  though 
their  lives  were  bound  up  with  our  own.  So 


Style  and  Development  87 

attractive  is  the  theme  that  in  a  short  work 
like  this  the  danger  lies  in  its  receiving  too 
much  notice  ;  yet,  from  one  point  of  view, 
these  pictures  do,  indeed,  stand  out  as  special 
representatives  of  Romney's  work.  Part  of 
his  genius  at  least  lies  in  this  discrimination 
and  capture  of  the  beauty  of  Emma  Hart. 
As  a  portrait  painter  Romney  stands  or 
falls.  We  can  judge  him  completely  only 
from  that  one  pronounced  feature  of  his 
work.  It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  trace 
out  thoroughly  in  any  short  volume  the  full 
extent  and  development  of  such  work  of  his 
as  we  possess,  from  the  early,  small  full- 
length  portrait  of  Jacob  Morland,  which  may 
be  cited  as  a  type  of  his  work  prior  to  his 
coming  to  London,  and,  indeed,  the  first 
portrait  he  ever  painted,  to  the  head  of 
William  Gay,  painted  in  1796,  which  won 
"  at  its  first  sight  "  the  heart  of  William 
Covvper,  while  the  artist  himself  said  "  that 
he  had  never  examined  any  manly  features 
which  he  would  sooner  choose  for  a  model, 
if  he  had  occasion  to  represent  the  com- 
passionate benignity  of  our  Saviour."  The 
reader  may  be  referred  to  the  second  book 
in  Appendix  II,  of  this  volume  (Romney:  A 


88 


Critical  Essay,  by  Messrs.  Ward  &  Roberts) 
for  an  idea  of  the  scope  of  the  material  that 
offers  itself  for  study  and  comment.  But, 
in  tracing  the  course  of  Romney's  activities 
as  an  artist,  it  is  equally  impossible  to 
neglect  certain  other  features  of  his  work 
which  bring  themselves  to  the  notice  of  the 
student,  while,  in  another  section  (Part  IV.), 
it  will  be  desirable  to  refer  to  the  remarkable 
charm  of  his  brushwork,  which  wins  the 
admiration  of  the  beholder. 

The  backgrounds  of  Romney's  pictures,  if 
fully  dealt  with,  would  afford  much  material 
for  discussion  and  conjecture.  In  his 
portrait  of  Lord  Thurlow  one  sees  a  group  of 
trees  in  rich  foliage,  while,  through  the 
trunks,  lies  a  glimpse  of  water,  and,  rising 
above  the  topmost  branches,  the  twin  spires 
of  a  church.  Mrs.  Maxwell,  in  a  long,  loose, 
white  robe,  gathered  by  a  sash  round  the 
waist,  stands  leaning  her  left  arm  lightly 
upon  a  stone  pillar.  Behind  her  are  the 
trunks  of  birch  trees,  and,  in  the  background, 
lies  a  glade  leading  to  the  verdure  of  a  hill- 
slope.  In  Jacob  Morland's  picture  we  see 
an  open  landscape  beyond  the  figure  ;  there 
is  a  ragged  rock  against  which  a  dog  stands, 


National  Gallery 


/ 

(i 


George  Romney 


Style  and  Development  89 

beautifully  outlined,  while  the  mountains  of 
the  Lake  District  die  away  in  the  distance. 
The  portrait  of  the  dog  in  this  picture  has 
been  justly  praised  for  its  representation  of 
characteristic  sagacity  and  its  appearance 
of  reality.  A  lovely  landscape  is  more  than 
hinted  at  in  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Nathaniel 
Lee  Acton.  We  have  referred  to  the  sculp- 
tured niche  and  the  vases  of  flowers  in  the 
picture  of  The  Nun.  In  his  portrait  of 
Master  Pelham  there  occurs  an  example  of 
Romney's  rapid  painting  which  also  illus- 
trates his  power  to  depict  natural  objects. 
A  brace  of  partridges  was  painted  in  about 
half  an  hour.  At  first  sight  these  seem  a 
piece  of  slovenly  slap-dash  work,  "  but  when 
seen  at  a  proper  distance  deception  becomes 
so  perfect  that  one  might  go  and  try  to  pick 
them  up."  Again  and  again  Romney's 
pictures  seem  to  cry  almost  pathetically, 
'  Even  if  this  wonderful  portrait  were 
removed,  with  all  its  charm  of  feature  and 
splendid  reproduction  of  dress,  of  robe  or 
suit  or  uniform,  the  craft  of  the  painter 
would  hold  you  with  a  power  which  he  feels 
he  possesses,  but  is  not  at  liberty  fully  to 
reveal.'  So  much  is  displayed  that  the 


go  Romney 

thought  arises  that,  if  Romney  had  Lved  in 
an  age  of  landscape  painters,  he  might  have 
found  a  greater  fame  than  that  he  has  won 
as  a  portrait  painter.  There  seems  no  doubt 
of  the  knowledge  of  his  power.  Probably 
the  strength  of  his  appeal  comes  out  more 
than  elsewhere  in  the  background  of  the 
portrait  of  Mrs.  Mingay. 

But  his  outcry  against  "  this  cursed 
portrait  painting  "  gathers  pathos  in  the 
reflection  that  Romney  undoubtedly 
possessed  other  powers  as  an  artist,  and  did, 
indeed,  struggle  at  times  to  express  the 
inspiration  within  him.  The  Life  by  Hayley, 
or  by  his  son,  discloses  the  fact  that  the 
artist's  mind  was  full  of  conception.  To 
what  extent  he  drew  from  his  own  reading 
or  upon  the  suggestions  of  friends  for  ideas, 
the  student  must  decide  for  himself.  One 
recalls  Lord  Chancellor  Thurlow's  cry,  who 
is  reported  to  have  said  :  "  Romney,  before 
you  paint  Shakespeare,  do  for  God's  sake 
read  him  !  " 

There  is  no  room  to  exemplify  fully  this 
statement,  but  we  may  refer  to  one  or  two 
facts.  In  1770  Romney  sent  two  pictures  to 
the  Incorporated  Society  of  Artists  to  illns- 


Style  and  Development  91 

trate  Mirth  and  Melancholy*  the  themes  of 
Milton's  L' Allegro  and  //  Penseroso.  John 
Romney  says  :  "  These  pictures  had  great 
merit."  Later  in  life  he  is  unable  to  accept 
an  invitation  to  visit  Hayley  at  Eastbourne, 
because  "  I  am  now  set  in  for  study.  I  have 
made  a  large  composition  for  Milton,  and  I 
wish  to  keep  my  mind  fixed  to  that  work  as 
much  as  possible."  His  generous  work  in 
connection  with  Boydell's  scheme  for  a 
"  Shakespeare  Gallery  "  illustrates  his  strong 
leaning  to  the  call  of  the  genius  of  the  great 
dramatist.  John  Romney  declared  that  the 
idea  of  the  scheme  originated  from  his  father. 
The  Infant  Shakespeare  Nursed  by  Tragedy 
and  Comedy ;  The  Infant  Shakespeare 
Attended  by  Nature  and  the  Passions,  might 
easily  have  been  suggested  by  the  reading  of 
Thomas  Gray's  ode,  The  Progress  of  Poesy. f 

*  Dorothy  Bland  (or  Jordan),  the  most  beautiful 
actress  of  the  day,  sat  for  Mirth. 

t the  dauntless  child 

Stretch'd  forth  his  little  arms,  and  smil'd. 

"  This  pencil  take  "  (she  said),  "  whose  colours  clear 

Richly  paint  the  vernal  years  : 

Thine,  too,  these  golden  keys,  immortal  Boy  ! 

This  can  unlock  the  gates  of  Joy, 

Of  horror  that,  and  thrilling  fears, 

Or  ope  the  sacred  source  of  sympathetic  tears." 


92  Romney 

The  rendering  of  Hayley's  son  Tom 
as  Robin  Goodfellow  is  as  clearly 
produced  by  the  music  of  A  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream,  Towards  the  end  of  his 
career,  when  obsession  seemed  to  sweep 
giant  projects  like  vast  clouds  across  his 
intellect,  he  writes  to  Hayley  as  follows  : 
"  I  had  formed  a  plan  of  painting  the  Seven 
Ages,  and  also  the  Visions  of  Adam  with  the 
Angel,  to  bring  in  the  Flood,  and  the 
opening  of  the  Ark,  which  would  make  six 
large  pictures  (but  this  is  a  profound  secret). 
Indeed,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I  have  made 
designs  for  all  the  pictures,  and  very  grand 
subjects  they  are.  I  beg  no  human  creature 
may  have  a  hint  of  it.  My  plan  was,  if  I 
should  live  and  retain  my  senses  and  sight, 
to  paint  six  other  subjects  for  Milton  :  three 
where  Satan  is  his  hero,  and  three  of  Adam 
and  Eve.  Perhaps  six  of  each.  I  have  ideas 
of  them  all,  and  I  may  say  sketches  ;  but 
alas  !  I  cannot  begin  anything  for  one  year 
or  two,  and  if  my  name  was  mentioned  I 
should  hear  nothing  but  abuse,  and  that  I 
cannot  bear.  This  has  always  been  my 
enem}'.  My  nerves  are  too  weak  for 
supporting  anything  in  public."  Among 


Style  and  Development  93 

other  pieces  of  his  work  Romney  attempted 
some  illustrations  of  Percy's  Reliques. 

There  is  no  necessity  to  draw  attention 
to  the  merits  or  demerits  of  such  work  of 
the  artist.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  throughout 
his  life  he  was  possessed  of  pregnant  ideas, 
and  throughout  his  life  claims  upon  him 
made  it  obligatory  that  he  should  earn 
money  by  his  art.  Added  to  these  facts  is 
one  other  of  deep  significance,  that  he  lacked, 
clearly  lacked,  the  knowledge  and  training 
which  should  have  been  his  in  the  early 
decades  of  his  life.  And  this  is  the  fact 
that  critics,  with  a  lack  of  sympathy,  have 
occasionally  passed  over  with  cruel  silence. 
Had  it  not  been  for  these  hard  limitations 
Romney  might  have  left  a  different  record. 
There  is  that  in  his  work — a  delicacy,  a  hint 
at  beauty,  an  imagination  of  a  sublime 
order — which  leaves  the  mind  charged  with 
the  thought  that  here  was  an  artist  who  could 
have  interpreted  great  themes,  and  put  to 
canvas  delicate  and  masterly  representations 
01  some  of  the  absorbing  topics  of  our 
literature,  not  to  speak  of  facts  in  the  realm 
of  History. 

It  is  a  hard  fate  that  a  painter  or  a  poet 


94  Romney 

is  obliged  to  live  in  a  state  of  warfare  and 
jostling.  One  recalls  Hayley's  story  of  the 
fortunate  circumstance  of  Romney's  boy- 
hood. Fortunate  or  not,  it  was  the  deciding 
factor  that  separated  him  from  the  world  of 
dream  and  wonder,  and  plunged  him  irre- 
vocably into  the  brilliant  society  which  he 
persistently  depicted.  In  London  his  sitters 
asked,  "  Have  you  ever  been  in  France, 
Mr.  Romney  ?  "  or  "  Have  you  ever  studied 
in  Rome  ?  "  And  his  very  art  in  portrait 
painting  made  it  essential  that  he  should 
pursue  his  craft  in  order  to  develop  his 
resources,  so  that  he  might  answer  such 
questions  in  the  affirmative.  Thus  we  see 
this  giant  caught  in  the  toils,  constantly 
struggling  to  break  loose,  but  only  gaining 
his  liberty  when  his  divine  strength  was 
exhausted,  and  the  silver  cord  was  well-nigh 
snapped.  In  a  sense,  scarcely  any  other 
life  of  an  artist  can  offer  such  a  tragedy,  at 
once  so  poignant,  so  continued,  and  so 
suggestive  of  national  loss. 

One  striking  feature  of  Romney's  life 
deserves  close  consideration.  That  is  his 
fatal  tendency  to  begin  and  then  to  leave 
uncompleted,  pictures  prompted  by  his 


Style  and  Development  95 

conception.  Many  an  hour  of  the  very 
prime  of  his  life  was  spent  by  Romney,  who 
worked  indefatigably — even  by  candle-light 
— at  inceptive  works  which,  for  one  reason 
or  another,  were  tossed  aside.  For  instance, 
in  his  Tragedy  and  Comedy  Nursing  Shakes- 
peare, The  Infant  Shakespeare  Attended  by 
the  Passions,  and  The  Alope,  his  model  had 
been  the  child  of  a  soldier  in  the  Guards. 
The  child  died  while  these  pictures  were 
being  produced  ;  accordingly  the  pictures 
remained  unfinished.  For  a  similar  reason 
the  Group  of  Children  in  a  Boat  drifted  out 
to  Sea  was  abandoned.  The  errand  boy  who 
served  for  his  model  in  the  Shepherd  Boy 
Asleep  Watched  by  his  Dog  at  the  Approach 
of  a  Thunderstorm  was  dismissed  for  ill- 
behaviour,  and  the  picture  was  never  com- 
pleted. The  Girl  Mourning  over  her  Fawn 
just  Killed  by  Lightning  was  thrown  aside, 
although  near  completion,  because  the 
artist  had  no  fawn  from  which  to  paint. 
Similarly,  the  absence  of  a  goat  in  The 
Milk-pail  overturned  by  a  She-Goat  anxious 
to  approach  its  Kid  which  a  Milking-Girl  is 
Fondling  was  sufficient  to  account  for  the 
unfinished  piece.  "  I  could  enumerate  many 


96  Romney 

other  unfinished  fancy  pieces,"  says  his  son, 
"  in  all  stages  of  progress,  which,  from  diveis 
impeding  causes,  were  suffered  to  accumulate 
in  every  corner  of  the  house  :  no  picture  was 
set  aside  from  any  difficulty  in  the  art  itself. 
I  could  also  mention  several  causes  which 
contributed  to  produce  the  vast  heap  of 
unfinished  portraits  that  obstructed  the 
progress  to  his  gallery.  The  chief  were  the 
poverty  or  meanness  of  the  parties  to  whom 
the  pictures  belonged.  I  have  known  ladies' 
portraits,  amounting  in  value  to  a  thousand 
guineas,  remain  unfinished  for  many  months 
for  want  of  a  model  with  fine  hands  and 
arms.  ...  It  was  no  uncommon  circum- 
stance, too,  that,  a  chere  amie  having  been 
brought  to  sit  for  her  portrait,  both  she  and 
the  picture  were  deserted  before  the  latter 
was  finished." 

With  regard  to  one  portrait,  at  least,  delay 
fortunately  was  crowned  by  completion. 
Lady  Newdigate  came  to  London  in  the 
summer  of  1790.  Romney  desired  that  she 
should  dress  in  white  "  sattin  "  with  a  long 
train  to  the  dress.  She  wrote  to  her 
husband,  "  It  is  ye  oddest  thing  I  ever  knew, 
but  I  dare  not  disobey  him  as  you  are  not 


97 


here  to  support  me."  After  two  years  this 
life-size  full-length  was  still  unfinished  ;  but 
eventually  the  artist  gave  the  world  the 
picture  which  was  so  much  admired  by 
George  Eliot  and  which  is  described  by  her 
in  Mr.  Gilfil's  Love  Story.  "  The  elder  lady 
is  tall  and  looks  taller  because  of  her 
powdered  hair,  which  is  turned  back  over  a 
toupee  and  surmounted  by  lace  nbbons. 
She  is  nearly  50,  but  her  complexion  is  still 
fresh  and  beautiful  with  the  beauty  of  an 
auburn  blonde  ;  her  proud  pouting  lips,  and 
her  head  thrown  backward  give  an  im- 
pression of  hauteur  which  is  not  contradicted 
by  her  grey  eyes."  It  was  Lady  Newdigate 
who  fancied  she  called  up  her  good  looks 
one  day  for  Romney,  although  where  they 
came  from  she  could  not  say,  but  her 
picture  was  certainly  improved. 

Again  and  again  in  his  life  we  read  of 
pictures  being  started  and  then  neglected. 
The  haunting  demon  of  nervous  dejection, 
the  fears  that  ever  dogged  his  path,  the 
cruel  goads  that  drove  him  along  the  road 
he  knew  he  must  tread  but  hated  treading, 
the  very  loftiness  of  his  conceptions,  all 
these  made  war  upon  him.  It  has  been 


98  Romney 

suggested  that  we  have  so  few  of  his  pictures 
which  reflect,  by  reason  of  composition,  the 
manners  and  customs  of  society,  simply 
because  Garrick,  in  1768,  was  taken  by 
Cumberland  to  see  Romney,  and  had  his 
attention  caught  by  a  large  family  piece. 
A  gentleman  in  a  close  buckled  bob  wig  and 
a  scarlet  waistcoat  laced  with  gold,  with  his 
wife  and  children  (some  sitting,  some 
standing)  had  taken  possession  of  some  yards 
of  canvas,  very  much,  a^  it  appeared,  to  their 
own  satisfaction,  for  they  were  perfectly 
amused  in  a  contented  abstention  from  all 
thought  or  action.  Said  Garrick  :  "  Upon 
my  word,  sir,  this  is  a  very  regular,  well- 
ordered  family,  and  that  is  a  very  bright 
mahogany  table  at  which  that  motherly 
good  lady  is  sitting ;  and  this  worthy 
gentleman  in  the  scarlet  waistcoat  is  doubt- 
less a  very  excellent  subject  (to  the  State, 
I  mean,  if  these  are  all  his  children),  but  not 
for  your  art,  Mr.  Romney,  if  you  mean  to 
pursue  it  with  that  success  which  I  hope  will 
attend  you."  This  picture  was  turned  with 
its  face  to  the  wall,  Romney's  natural 
feeling  for  good  grouping  was  checked,  and 
such  pictures  as  that  which  he  and  his  son 


discovered  at  Barfield  in  1798  were  for  the 
future  unlikely.  This  picture  "  represents 
a  party  consisting  of  three  gentlemen  and 
two  ladies  going  on  board  a  boat  on  a  lake. 
The  ladies  show  great  timidity,  so  natural  to 
the  female  character  under  the  impression 
of  danger,  which  expression  is  irequently 
accompanied  by  a  certain  degree  of  grace, 
but  are  politely  urged  by  their  attendant 
gallants.  The  colouring  is  beautifully  clear, 
and  as  fresh  as  if  recently  painted.  The 
execution  evinces  great  facility  and  freedom 
of  handling,  and  the  touches  are  spirited  and 
neat."  This  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the 
pictures  exhibited  in  the  Town  Hall  at  Ken- 
dal  and  purchased  by  lottery  when  Romney 
was  struggling  to  pay  his  way  to  London. 

Dr.  Johnson  called  Reynolds  the  most 
invulnerable  of  men  ;  on  the  other  hand  we 
may  regard  Romney 's  feelings,  when  exposed 
to  harsh  criticism,  as  easily  ruffled  as  the 
surface  of  open  water  upon  which  the  rough 
north  wind  rushes  to  break  up  all  placidity. 

We  shall  speak  elsewhere  of  the  charm  and 
delicacy  of  his  brushwork  and  the  smooth- 
ness of  his  canvas.  So  far  we  have  simply 
traced  the  characteristics  of  his  work,  and  to 


ioo  Romney 

go  further  would  involve  more  elaborate 
explanation  and  wider  reference. 

In  1789,  when  Wesley  was  eighty-six 
years  old,  he  said  :  "  At  the  earnest  desire 
of  Mrs.  T.,  I  once  more  sat  for  my  picture. 
Mr.  Romney  is  a  painter,  indeed  !  He  struck 
off  an  exact  likeness  at  once,  and  did  more  in 
an  hour  than  Sir  Joshua  did  in  ten." 

Grace,  simplicity,  conscientiousness,  class- 
icism (after  his  return  from  Italy),  senti- 
ment— but,  above  all,  elegance  and  grace, 
seem  to  be  the  characteristics  of  George 
Romney's  art.  So  far  he  is  too  little 
known  to  be  truly  estimated  ;  but  it  may 
be  that  in  the  fulness  of  time  the  world  of 
art  will  not  so  readily  assign  him  the  third 
place  among  the  portrait  painters  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Two  of  them  have  so 
long  been  accepted  as  the  leaders  that  it 
seems  heresy  to  suggest  their  displacement ; 
yet  the  wheel  of  judgment  is  ever  revolving, 
in  art  more  especially,  and  later  generations 
may  accept  Wesley's  statement  and,  saying, 
"  Mr.  Romney  is  a  painter,  indeed,  "assign 
their  preference  in  a  similar  manner  for  this 
hitherto  but  little  understood  artist. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  ARTIST. 

WHILE  it  may  be  comparatively  easy  to  say 
of  certain  artists  that  they  were  influenced 
by  this  or  that  school  of  painting,  or  fell 
under  the  sway  of  one  or  the  other  of  the 
great  masters  ;  while  we  can  follow  out 
by  means  of  memoirs  or  biography  the 
evidences  of  contemporary  opinion  with 
regard  to  a  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  or  a  Turner, 
yet  when  we  apply  these  considerations  to 
George  Romney  we  are  met  with  difficulties 
that  mark  him  out  for  special  treatment. 
This  is  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  he  was  a 
recluse.  Reynolds,  for  example,  figures 
here  and  there  in  the  social  and  political  life 
of  his  day.  He  possessed  influential  friends 
who  could  spread  his  praise  abroad.  Con- 
temporary opinion  plays  freely  and  flatter- 
ingly around  his  name.  As  President  of  the 
Royal  Academy  he  was  surrounded  by 

10 1 


102  Romney 

satellites  who  caught  and  reflected  lustre, 
and,  in  their  orbits,  spread  the  glory  of  his 
name  from  pole  to  pole.  The  public,  which 
after  all  is  the  determining  factor  of  a  man's 
reputation,  saw  the  works  of  Reynolds  in  the 
Academy  and  conferred  upon  him  (no  doubt 
under  the  coaxing  guidance  of  the  skilled 
critic)  the  just  praise  which  the  pictures 
merited.  But  in  almost  every  respect 
Romney  seems  to  fail  us  when  we  search  for 
contemporary  judgment.  He  moves  almost 
like  a  shadow  across  the  years  in  which  he 
lived,  leaving  not  a  trace  behind.  The 
reason  for  this  lies  partly  in  his  own  tempera- 
ment, and  partly  in  the  circumstances  of 
his  life.  We  suppose  that  only  those  who 
have  missed  early  opportunities,  and, 
awakening  to  the  fact  in  later  life,  endeavour 
strenuously  to  make  good  what  ought  to 
have  been  accomplished  in  childhood  and 
youth,  can  realise  the  manner  in  which  the 
intercourse  and  social  activities  usually 
common  to  manhood  and  maturity  are 
shut  off  from  such  a  life.  The  very  fact 
that  Romney  stood  outside  the  Academy 
meant  far  more  than  such  an  attitude  would 
imply  in  later  times.  It  meant  that  while 


Quality  of  (he  Artist  103 

the  great  public  knew  intimately  the  work 
of  Reynolds  and  Gainsborough,  for  example, 
Romney  was  unknown.  Royalty,  which 
exercised  so  great  a  power  in  those  days, 
might  smile  upon  his  genius,  but  he  would 
not  know  it.  This  quiet  man,  whose  sole 
recreation  was  to  employ  his  spare  hours  in 
studying  the  sister  arts  to  painting,  or  to 
work  by  candle-light  at  the  designs  and 
conceptions  prompted  by  his  fruitful 
imagination,  merely  joined  in  later  life  a 
small  club  called  "  The  Unincreasables,"  and 
formed  with  contemporary  artists  no  intimate 
association  except  with  John  Flaxman, 
whom  he  befriended  so  magnanimously, 
and  a  few  of  the  men  who  became  his  pupils. 
Yet  this  was  the  man  who  numbered  among 
his  sitters  six  of  the  members  of  Pitt's 
Administration,  including  the  Prime  Minister 
himself  ;  who,  notoriously  aloof  from  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds,  so  attracted  people  to  his 
canvas  that  we  find  one  after  the  other  of  the 
great  Johnsonian  Circle,  of  which  Reynolds 
was  so  conspicuous  a  member,  coming  to  sit 
for  their  portraits — Johnson  himself,*  Burke, 

*  The   portrait  of   Johnson   in   Trinity  College, 
Oxford,  is  attributed  to  Romney. 


104  Romney 

Garrick,  Goldsmith,*  and  Gibbon.  Starting 
in  1776  Romney  kept  a  diary  of  his  sitters 
and  continued  it  till  1795.  Messrs.  Ward 
and  Roberts,  in  their  excellent  volumes  on 
Romney,  give  these  sittings,  printed  in  three 
columns  to  a  page.  Estimating  these 
sittings,  which  occupy  fifty  pages,  at  230  to 
a  page,  we  find  that  spread  over  these 
nineteen  years  there  were,  roughly  speaking, 
between  eleven  thousand  and  twelve  thou- 
sand sittings — "  an  amazing  mass  of  work." 
Romney  spared  himself  in  no  way.  Some- 
times he  would  receive  five  or  six  sitters  a 
day,  and,  working  only  too  rapidly,  he 
usually  finished  a  portrait  in  three  or  four 
sittings.  As  we  have  shown,  included  among 
these  sitters  were  the  elite  of  the  society  of 
those  days.  But  it  would  seem  that  as  a 
man  Romney  made  no  impressions  upon  this 
fashionable  and  influential  group  of  people. 
They  came  to  him  because  they  realised  his 
powers,  and  desired  to  employ  him  for  their 
own  purpose — they  regarded  the  artist  rather 
as  a  portrait  painter  than  as  a  man,  and, 

*  This  portrait  was  exhibited  at  an  exhibition 
of  Old  Masters  in  1877  as  a  Reynolds,  but  experts 
held  that  it  was  a  Romney. 


Quality  of  the  Artist  105 

when  they  left  his  studio,  they  were  done 
with  him  ;  some  to  such  a  degree  that  they 
did  not  even  pay  for  the  work  he  had 
accomplished ! 

When  Reynolds  passed  away  there  were 
those  who  could  hand  on  the  story  of  his 
life  and  labours  ;  when  Romney  died  the 
task  of  biography  fell,  unfortunately,  to  the 
pen  of  one  better  able  to  talk  about  himself 
than  about  the  artist.  Reynolds'  pictures 
were  seen  exhibited  in  public  places  ; 
Romney's  pictures  were  scattered  here  and 
there  about  the  kingdom,  hidden  for  the 
most  part  in  piivate  houses  and  country 
mansions,  and  the  nation  little  knew,  or  even 
yet  knows,  its  heavy  loss  and  its  splendid 
gain. 

There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  Romney's 
temperament  was  a  difficult  one  for  people 
to  get  to  know  and  understand.  Ozias 
Humphry  was  a  great  friend  of  his,  and 
accompanied  him  to  Rome,  but  they 
separated,  Romney  to  plunge  into  the 
studies  which  he  had  come  to  Italy  to 
prosecute.  It  is  said  that  his  ruling  passion 
was  ambition  to  succeed.  There  are  different 
pathways  to  fame.  It  often  happens,  how- 


io6  Romney 

ever,  in  this  world,  that  the  portal  to  fame  is 
more  easily  found  in  the  halls  of  the  great 
and  powerful  than  in  the  study  or  the  studio. 
Romney  refused,  for  reasons  best  known  to 
himself,  to  seek  greatness  by  facile  speech 
or  flattering  tongue.  To  some  extent  later 
generations  have  justified  his  attitude  ;  it 
may  be  justified  even  more  definitely  by  our 
posterity.  But  it  is  evident  that  his  aloof- 
ness led  to  an  absence  of  sympathetic  public 
opinion,  and  that,  so  far  as  contemporary 
art  was  concerned,  we  may  infer  with  some 
probability  of  fairness  that  he  exerted  but 
little  influence  upon  its  development. 
Furthermore,  for  nearly  fifty  years  after  his 
death  his  genius  lay  under  an  undeserved 
obscurity,  and  was  only  revealed  in  its  full 
brightness  when  Ruskin  began  to  preach  the 
virtue  of  the  Pre-Raphaelite. 

It  may  be  argued  that,  while  Romney  was 
most  unfortunate  in  his  loss  of  early  training, 
he  was  nevertheless  happy  in  coming  to  Lon- 
don when  he  did.  We  may  deplore  the  fact 
that  he  did  not  live  later ;  it  is  certainly  well 
that  he  did  not  live  earlier.  His  wonderful 
gift  of  portrait  painting  suited  his  age  and 
the  social  life  of  the  latter  half  of  the 


Quality  of  the  Artist  107 

eighteenth  century.  George  the  Second  had 
not  loved  "  boetry  "  nor  "  bainting  ;  "  his 
aesthetic  tastes  were  employed  in  other 
directions  ;  but  his  grandson,  George  the 
Third,  displayed  sympathy  towards  the 
arts,  while  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  had,  by  his 
consummate  genius,  drawn  the  attention  of 
society  to  the  development  of  British  Art. 
The  stream  of  fashionable  folk  who  sat  for 
Reynolds  and  Romney  shows  how  society 
had  come  to  view  the  artist.  We  believe 
that  this  fact  had  much  to  do  with  Romney 's 
attitude  toward  art  and  with  the  attitude  of 
the  public  towards  him  as  an  artist.  In 
painting,  as  well  as  in  poetry,  there  is  a  sort 
of  idealised  realism,  and  very  many  people 
are  attracted  consciously,  or  unconsciously, 
by  the  glamour  thrown  by  the  artist, 
whether  he  paint  with  brush  or  with  pen, 
over  the  subject  of  his  art.  As  Browning 
says  through  the  mouth  of  Fra  Lippo  Lippi  : 

For,  don't  you  mark,  we're  made  so  that  we  love 
First,  when  we  see  them  painted,  things  we  have 

passed 

Perhaps  a  hundred  times,  nor  cared  to  see  ; 
And  so  they're  better,  painted — better  to  us 
Which  is  the  same  thing,  art  was  given  for  that. 

That  is  true  of  most  people  ;    it  is  more 


io8  Romney 

true  that  the  eclectic  art  of  the  painter  and 
poet  often  transforms  the  unattractive  and 
presents,  as  it  were,  an  etherealised  view 
which  captures  admiration.  Juvenal  may 
exclaim  :  Quidprodest .  .  .  pictosque  ostendere 
vultus  majorum.  The  ancestors  and  the 
descendants  glory  in  a  presentation  that 
pays  a  compliment  to  their  line.  It  may  be 
partly  true  that  there  are  grounds  for  the 
criticism  mildly  urged  against  Romney  to 
the  effect  that  there  is  a  certain  sameness  in 
his  faces,  that  the  blue  eyes  of  one  portrait 
shine  like  the  eyes  of  another ;  or  as  D.  S. 
MacColl*  puts  it :  "  He  merely  moved  the 
parts  of  the  mask  a  little  about  so  that  the 
features  by  their  spacing  might  approach 
to  a  '  likeness  '  and  that  there  is,  as  it  were, 
a  sort  of  conformation  to  type."  As  we 
shall  see,  the  criticism  can  be  met  with 
another  suggestion  :  that  a  generation  of 
portrait  lovers  was  pleased  to  find  a  man 
who  could  flatter  so  subtly,  and  it  admired 
his  flattery.  Hence  the  "  amazing  mass  of 
work  "  from  his  brush.  He  discovered  in 
Italy  the  grace  with  which  he  clothed  his 

*  Saturday  Review,  June  gth,  1900. 


Quality  of  the  A  rtist  109 

later  portraits,  and,  upon  his  return  from  the 
sunny  south,  the  "  stiff  and  formal  painter  of 
Newport  Street  developed  into  the  free  and 
charming  painter  of  Cavendish  Square." 
The  public  recognised  the  alteration  and 
was  quick  to  take  full  advantage  of  his 
skill. 

Yet  while  that  generation  rejoiced  in  the 
subtle  flattery  of  Romney's  art,  and  we  love 
the  winsome  charms  displayed  in  his  feminine 
faces,  we  must  recollect  that  this  great  artis4: 
did  more  than  flatter,  which,  after  all,  is  a 
fault  (if  it  be  a  fault)  found  in  other  artists 
than  Romney.  If  his  women  and  children 
possess  grace,  his  men  sitters  possess 
dignity  and  power.  Romney  may  have 
idealized,  but  we  may  feel  certain  that 
behind  that  idealism  there  was  a  strict 
adherence  to  truth  which  was  very  con- 
vincing. It  was  a  Romney  that  led  Horace 
Walpole  to  exclaim  : 

Full  many  an  artist  has  on  canvas  fix'd 
All  charms  that  nature's  pencil  ever  miss'd  ; 
The  witchery  of  eyes,  the  grace  that  tips 
The  inexpressible  douceur  of  the  lips — 
Romney  alone,  in  this  fair  image  caught 
Each  charm's  expression,  and  each  feature's  thought, 
And  shows  how  in  their  sweet  assemblage  sit 
Taste,   Spirit,  Softness,  Sentiment,  and  Wit. 


1 10  Romney 

And,  judging  from  the  scarcity  of  Walpole's 
references  to  Romney,  we  may  infer  that 
these  lines  were  written  to  please  Lady 
Craven  rather  than  Romney.  Yet  we  can 
match  their  acknowledgment  of  Romney's 
power  to  depict  feminine  beauty  with 
Richard  Cumberland's  poetic  tribute,  and 
William  Cowper's  heartfelt  sonnet,  both  of 
which  show  delight  in  the  delineation  of 
masculine  features.  Old  John  Wesley's 
written  tribute  is  referred  to  elsewhere.  Let 
it  be  admitted  that  Romney  was  a  less 
learned  man  than  Reynolds,  that  he  could 
not  read  character  so  clearly  as  his  great 
rival,  that  he  lacked  anatomical  knowledge  ; 
he  was  yet  able  to  see  his  sitters  with  an  eye 
that  was  lacking  to  others  of  his  con- 
temporaries and  had  a  power  of  rendering 
their  features  with  a  sympathetic  touch  that 
dwelt  with  the  portrait  for  all  time.  "  He 
best  can  paint  'em  who  shall  feel  'em  most," 
sings  Pope.  One  believes  that  in  many 
instances  Romney  had  more  sympathetic 
feeling  behind  his  brush,  and  that,  while  he 
was  one  of  the  simplest  of  painters,  he  was 
also  one  of  the  most  artistic  in  his  methods 
and  his  productions.  His  methods  were  his 


National  Gallery 


&rtf&        V?n4.ttf 
George  Romney 


Quality  of  the  Artist  ill 

own.  This  self-made  artist  deviated  but 
little  from  the  early  principles  of  his  art. 
These  principles  were  the  outcome  of  his 
own  experiment  and  his  own  initiative.  He 
stands  out  in  his  day  as  a  man  who  borrowed 
little  or  nothing  in  the  matter  of  precept 
from  any  earlier,  or  any  contemporary 
masters.  That  he  was  influenced  later  on 
in  life  one  allows  ;  that  he  was  ever  anything 
other  than  deeply  original  in  his  conceptions 
of  art,  or  that  he  borrowed  from  any  special 
school,  one  cannot  admit. 

Those  who  go  to  Romney's  pictures  find  a 
sweetness  and  a  grace  which  infuse  the 
loveliness  with  which  he  was  in  love,  to  an 
extent  difficult  to  express  ;  that  is  the 
quality  which  has  been  described  as  "  essen- 
tially his  own."  The  very  simplicity  he 
depicts  is  captivating  in  itself,  but  the  art 
of  the  painter  is  seen  still  more  in  the  setting 
of  his  subject  in  those  "  large  unfrittered 
designs  "  which  were  the  result  of  his  being 
born  a  genius  in  the  matter  of  design — 
unf  adeji  colour,  in  those  simple  tints  he  loved 
so  much — loveliness,  human  beauty,  natural 
pose,  the  superb  arrangement  and  delineation 
of  draperies — all  these  combined  with  the 


H2  Romney 

glimpse  of  dignity  that  so  frequently 
characterizes  his  portraits,  are  just  a  few  of 
those  features  which  quite  naturally  charm 
the  amateur.  As  we  look  at  a  Romney  we 
often  exclaim,  "  How  natural  it  is  !  " 

For  example,  nobody  who  contrasts 
Thomas  Gainsborough's  Mrs.  Bowaier  with 
George  Romney 's  Lady  Milncs  can  fail  to 
be  struck  by  the  difference  in  the  treatment.* 
Charming  as  is  the  portrait  by  Gainsborough, 
with  its  evidence  of  the  power  and  skill  of 
the  artist's  genius,  as  one  turns  to  Romney's 
Lady  Milnes  the  beauty  and  grace  of  his 
picture  completely  efface  the  impressions 
left  by  the  Gainsborough.  The  "  call  "  of 
the  picture  is  unmistakable.  Without  for 
one  moment  implying  that  the  Gainsborough 
is  false,  one  undoubtedly  feels  that  the 
Romney  is  immensely  more  human,  more 
living.  The  Gainsborough  seems  to  suggest 
the  manner  and  dress  of  a  Watteau  pastoral. 
Whether  it  is  an  idealised  face  that  turns  to 
gaze  at  us  from  the  Romney,  or  whether  it 
is  a  true,  speaking  likeness  does  not  matter, 

*  Reproductions  of  these  two  pictures,  now  in  the 
Frick  Collection,  America,  axe  given  in  Mr.  W. 
Roberts'  article  at  South  Kensington  Library. 


Quality  of  the  Artist  113 

but  there  upon  the  canvas  is  a  woman's 
figure,  dressed  in  a  plain  brown  satin  dress, 
of  which  the  bodice  gracefully  lies  around 
the  softly  moulded  breast,  and  the  skirt 
drops  in  rich  folds  to  where  the  dainty 
ankles  peep  so  naturally  above  the  little 
shoes  pressed  lightly  on  the  ground.  The 
rich  train  flows  sweeping  away.  Upon  her 
head  lies  tilted,  at  a  charmingly  coquettish 
angle,  a  big  picture-hat  covered  with 
splendid  plumes  of  white  ostrich  feathers. 
The  lady's  left  arm  is  advanced  so  that 
the  slender  hand  may  rest  its  finger-tips 
upon  a  pillar.  The  white  puffed  sleeve 
lies  directly  in  a  line  under  the  white 
feathers  and  between  them  comes  the  white 
glow  of  the  skin  of  the  face  and  neck.  There 
is  not  only  womanly  grace,  but  there  is,  as 
it  were,  feminine  sovereignty  in  the  whole 
poise  ;  yet  it  is  just  that  sovereignty  which, 
one  realizes,  might  so  easily  melt  into  human 
love  and  joy.  When  these  two  pictures  lie 
side  by  side  one  wonders  how  ever  it  can 
have  been  that  this  artist  who  could  paint 
so  captivatingly  the  grace  and  charm  of  the 
women  of  his  age  could  have  lived  so  long 
under  a  cloud.  One  does  not  at  all  wonder 
I 


114  Romney 

at  the  readiness  of  the  Americans  to  acquire 
Romney's  portraits  :  one  only  marvels  at 
the  fact  that  our  nation  so  readily  parts 
with  its  inheritance.  In  this  picture  of 
Lady  Milnes  (a  member  of  the  Bentinck 
family)  one  understands  the  truth  of  the 
saying  that,  while  Reynolds  is  often  stagey 
and  theatrical,  and  Gainsborough  endues 
his  sitters  with  a  dignity  which,  if  it  is  true 
to  life,  must  have  made  the  originals  difficult 
persons  to  get  on  with,  Romney's  whole- 
lengths  are  essentially  human.  In  the 
portrait  of  Lady  Isabella  Hamilton  one  gets 
a  sort  of  parallel  to  Lady  Milnes'  picture. 
There  is  the  same  feminine  loveliness,  true 
womanliness,  and  reality.  The  two  portraits 
are,  so  to  speak,  companionable. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  the  fashions 
of  the  day,  the  low-cut  bodices,  frilled  or 
draped  round  the  bosom,  frilled  again  at  the 
wrists  ;  the  high-waisted  skirts,  full-trained 
and  flowing  in  Grecian  style  round  the  feet, 
were  all  in  Romney's  favour.  John  Flax- 
man  bears  direct  tribute  to  the  artistic  skill 
of  the  man  he  admired  so  much :  "He 
practised  no  deception  to  gain  popularity. 
When  he  began  to  paint  he  had  seen  no 


Quality  of  the  Artist  115 

gallery  of  pictures,  nor  fine  productions  of 
ancient  sculpture,  but  men,  women  and 
children  were  his  statues  and  all  objects 
under  the  cope  of  heaven  formed  his  school  of 
painting.  .  .  .  Indeed,  his  genius  bore  a 
strong  resemblance  to  the  scenes  he  was 
born  in ;  like  them,  it  partook  of  the  grand 
and  beautiful ;  and  like  them  also,  the 
bright  sunshine  and  enchanting  prospects  of 
his  fancy  were  occasionally  overspread  with 
mist  and  gloom.  ...  As  Romney  was  gifted 
with  peculiar  powers  for  historical  and  ideal 
painting,  so  his  heart  and  soul  were  engaged 
in  the  pursuit  of  it  whenever  he  could 
extricate  himself  from  the  important  busi- 
ness of  portrait  painting.  It  was  his  delight 
by  day  and  study  by  night,  and  for  this  his 
food  and  rest  were  often  neglected."  With 
regard  to  the  drapery  of  Romney,  Flaxman 
says  that  it  was  "  well  understood,  either 
forming  the  figure  into  a  mass  with  one  or 
two  deep  folds  only,  or  by  its  adhesion  and 
transparency  discovering  the  form  of  the 
figure,  the  lines  of  which  were  finely  varied 
with  the  trains  or  expansions  of  spiral  or 
cascade  folds,  composing  with  or  contrasting 
the  outline  and  chiaroscuro :  he  was  so 


passionately  fond  of  Grecian  sculpture  that 
he  filled  his  study  and  galleries  with  fine 
casts  from  the  most  perfect  statues,  basso- 
relievos  and  busts  of  antiquity  :  he  would 
sit  and  consider  these  in  profound  silence  by 
the  hour." 

The  spectator  so  often  feels  as  he  looks  at 
a  Romney  that  he  is  not  simply  looking  at 
a  portrait,  but  at  a  picture.  It  is  true  that 
the  costumes  of  the  day  fell  in  with  the 
artist's  study  of  Grecian  simplicity ;  but 
he  combined  effect  with  grace,  and  grace 
with  circumstance.  He  admitted  that  he 
knew  little  of  anatomy  and  he  is  most 
severely  criticised  from  the  point  of  view  of 
his  draughtsmanship.  It  is  urged  that  his 
forms  are  apt  to  be  unmodelled  and  "  bone- 
less ;  "  that  his  hands  lack  character  ;  that 
his  figures  have  no  depth  or  roundness.  And 
the  same  critic  who  draws  attention  to  these 
charges,  asks  himself  almost  in  the  manner 
of  an  Old  Testament  writer  :  "  Who  would 
desire  to  count  the  ribs  of  beauty  ;  or  take 
thought  for  the  muscular  contraction  of  a 
soft,  rounded  arm  ?  "* 

*  R.  C.  Witt  in  The  Nineteenth  Century. 


Quality  of  the  Artist  117 

Romney  employs  the  soft  powdered  hair 
of  the  day  with  the  tilt  of  the  picture  hat, 
or  folds  of  the  large  mob  cap,  to  form  a 
gentle  contrast  with  a  soft  background  of 
brown  trees,  and  subdued  light  from  clouded 
skies.  The  man  puts  into  his  portraits 
what  he  has  not  borrowed  from  others  but 
derived  from  himself — that  indefinable  some- 
thing which  goes  to  constitute  what  we  call 
a  "  Romney."  And  who  can  precisely  say 
what  that  is  ?  We  are  told  of  Raphael 
Mengs,  Romney's  German  contemporary, 
that  his  object  was  to  gather  the  expression 
of  Raphael,  the  colour  of  Titian,  the 
chiaroscuro  of  Correggio,  and  the  drawing  of 
ancient  sculpture.  One  cannot  for  a  moment 
think  of  Romney  in  such  terms.  Just  as 
the  mind  of  Shakespeare  took  in  the  literary 
material  he  borrowed  and  in  the  crucible  of 
his  intellect  transformed  it  into  something 
essentially  his  own,  so  Romney,  the  poet- 
painter,  gives  us  the  pure  essence  of  his  own 
artistic  imagery.  More  than  any  other 
painter  Romney  grasped  the  fleeting  spirit 
of  beauty,  and  he  remains  for  us  both  seer 
and  poet  in  this  realm  of  his  art.  That  is  why 
we  refer  to  him  as  a  great  possession  of  the 


Ii8  Romney 

English  school  of  painters  ;  that  is  why  he 
survived  the  lapse  of  fifty  years  and  the 
neglect  of  a  nation,  to  emerge  into  ever- 
increasing  fame  ;  that  is  why  we  feel  that 
the  general  public  who  certainly  has  no 
desire  "  to  count  the  ribs  of  beauty  "  will 
continue,  the  more  it  sees,  the  more  to 
admire  his  pictures.  It  is  to  be  deplored 
that  he  employed  bitumen,  so  that  in  our 
time  we  meet  with  canvases  that  are 
darkened  and  blistered,  bearing  their  elo- 
quent testimony  against  this  fault.  But 
somebody  has  adapted  the  remark  of  Sir 
George  Beaumont  made  in  reference  to 
Reynolds,  and  has  put  it  that  "  a  faded 
portrait  by  Romney  is  better  than  a  fresh  one 
by  anyone  else."  However,  we  submit  the 
argument  that  for  Romney's  pictures  to  fade 
is  fatal,  for  pre-eminently  in  their  colour  lies 
much  of  their  charm.  We  propose,  there- 
fore, at  this  juncture  to  summarise  the  views 
of  modern  critics,  and  endeavour  to  ascertain 
what  it  is  that  wins  the  admiration  of  the 
ordinary  spectator  for  a  Romney. 

Romney  in  his  originality  is  essentially 
English.  He  was  the  painter  who  best 
reflected  the  sentiment  of  the  age  in  which 


Quality  of  the  Artist  119 

he  lived,  and  he  does  this  with  elegance 
and  grace.  In  his  art,  as  we  have  shown, 
he  absorbs  and  employs  for  his  purpose  the 
charm  of  the  costume  of  the  period.  In 
picture  after  picture  we  come  across  the 
simple  white  drapery,  with  perhaps  a  ribbon, 
or  a  waistband,  of  blue  (of  which  he  is 
fond),*  or  it  may  be  green.  One  critic,  as 
we  have  remarked,  says  that  Romney 
"  merely  moved  the  parts  of  the  mask  "  and 
gives  us  the  same  type  of  face  again  and 
again.  It  seems  almost  needless  to  point 
out  that  such  a  criticism  can  be  applied  to 
other  great  portrait  painters  as  well  as  to 
Romney.  The  mere  novice  learns  to 
recognise  certain  types  common  to  great 
artists,  and  recognises  the  period  when  the 
portrait  was  painted  not  only  by  the  attire 
but  by  the  countenance  of  the  subject.  A 
visit  to  the  National  Portrait  Gallery  to  see 
Sir  Peter  Lely's  pictures  will  confirm  this 
statement.  As  one  stands  before  the 
portrait  of  Anna  Maria  Brudenell,  Countess 
of  Shrewsbury,  and  that  of  Eleanor  Gwyn, 
it  is  clear  that  Mr.  D.  C.  McColl's  criticism  of 

*  E.g.,  In   the   charming   portrait  of   Mrs.  Robert 
Trotter    of   Bush    (National    Gallery). 


I2O  Romney 

Romney  is  equally  true  of  this  earlier  artist. 
The  two  women  might  almost  be  sisters, 
according  to  feature  and  appearance. 

Another  critic  speaking  of  Romney  puts 
it  that  we  find  constantly  the  "  same  eyes, 
nose,  and  mouth  .  .  .  the  straight  well- 
defined  eyebrows,  the  large  melting  eyes  and 
softly  curved  lips  occur  again  and  again,"* 
because  his  lodestar  in  beauty  was  Lady 
Hamilton.  The  thought  comes  at  times 
whether  this  type  of  beauty  was  simply  that 
of  Lady  Hamilton,  or  whether  it  was  partly 
hers  and  partly  something  that  existed  in 
Romney's  mind.  The  photographic  copy  of 
the  intaglio  by  Rega,  done  by  him  towards 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  does  not 
entirely  suggest  that  winsome,  smiling  grace 
one  meets  so  often  in  Romney's  pictures  of 
Lady  Hamilton.  It  is  quite  probable  that 
Romney  brought  his  ideal  into  his  workman- 
ship; that  there  was  something  manifestly 
exceptional  about  the  "  divine  lady "  is 
attested  to  from  so  many  quarters. 
Reynolds,  Madame  Vigee  le  Brun,  Angelica 
Kauffmann,  and  Italian  painters  and 

*  R.  C.  Witt  in  The  Nineteenth  Century. 


Quality  of  the  Artist  121 

sculptors,  all  tried  their  skill  upon  her  ;  but 
it  is  Romney  alone  who  catches  that 
witchery,  that  delicate  archness  so  definitely 
associated  with  his  portraits  of  her,  and  it 
may  well  be  that  either  he  saw  what  they 
could  not  see,  or  that  her  beauty  awoke  in 
him  suggestions  of  his  youth  which,  like  the 
morning  light  resting  upon  the  countryside, 
bestowed  a  freshness  and  a  fragrance  all  its 
own. 

The  pose  and  the  costume  of  Romney's 
portraits  are  often  of  the  most  studied 
simplicity,  and  suggestive  of  youth  and 
naturalness.  He  was  painting  in  a  transition 
period  when  the  artificial  wig  and  hoop  were 
giving  place  to  classical  fillet  and  gown. 
His  portraits,  apart  from  his  type  of 
beauty,  are  not  imaginative  in  execution. 
The  sitter  was  painted  as  seen.  Even  in  the 
Hamilton  portraits  all  the  accessories  are 
actual  copies,  and  so  true  in  this  that 
Romney  seems  to  forestall  the  modern 
realist.  Thus  he  appears  to  us  less  anti- 
quated than  his  contemporaries  and  so 
makes  a  direct  appeal  to  our  sympathy. 
While  he  will  not  live  as  a  painter  of  historical 
or  imaginative  subjects,  yet  in  his  character 


122  Romney 

of  the  portrait  painter  of  the  charm  and 
grace  of  his  day,  and  able  to  invest  even  that 
with  subtle  and  delicate  interest,  Romney 
must  continue  to  live,  for  his  portraits  will 
always  reach  the  heart,  even  though  they 
may  not  appeal  to  the  intellect. 

Yet  it  is  worth  while  to  draw  attention  to 
the  fact  that  even  the  portraits  of  Emma 
Hamilton  offer  interesting  studies  in  the 
matter  of  face  and  feature.  For  example, 
anyone  who  will  compare  Emma  Hamilton 
in  a  Black  Hat  (painted  in  1792),  and  Emma 
Hamilton  in  Morning  Dress  (1786),  with  the 
face  of  Emma  when  she  represents  Comedy 
in  Shakespeare  Nursed  by  Tragedy  and 
Comedy  (1791),  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  by 
the  difference.  The  two  former  suggest  a 
face  which  is  somewhat  rounded,  full,  a  little 
inclined  to  be  heavy,  with  less  of  the 
spiritual  and  more  of  the  material  and  yet 
hinting  at  the  childlike.  The  face  in  each 
of  these  instances  is  placid,  and  the  nose  is 
inclined  to  be  broad  and  somewhat  retrouss6. 
In  the  picture  of  Comedy  we  come  again  to 
that  other  face,  elf-like,  full  of  laughter  and 
spirit,  with  a  suggestion  of  piquancy, 
melting  into  light  laughter,  with  the  nose 


Quality  of  the  Artist  123 

long  and  straight  and  the  chin  pointed — the 
sort  of  face  that  looks  out  at  us  from  dozens 
of  portraits.  The  former  type  approximates 
somewhat  to  the  intaglio  by  Rega,  the 
Italian  artist ;  the  latter,  we  suggest,  is 
Emma  Hamilton  idealised  by  Romney  and 
conforming  to  a  type  which  one  is  inclined 
to  think  is  partly  hinted  at  in  portraits 
painted  by  Romney  before  he  ever  met  with 
the  "  divine  lady." 

Is  it  possible  that  in  many  of  Romney's 
portraits,  both  earlier  than,  and  contem- 
porary with,  the  time  of  Emma's  appearance 
in  the  studio,  we  have  a  persistent  type 
which  came  to  him  earlier  in  life,  even, 
perhaps,  before  he  left  the  north  for  London  ? 
In  the  long,  slightly  aquiline  nose,  arched 
eye-brows  and  full  curved  lips  bordering  on 
laughter  and  always  smiling,  it  may  be  that 
we  have  a  type  of  feminine  beauty  that  the 
boy,  and  young  man,  met  with  frequently 
in  the  north-west  country  whence  he  came. 
Certain  it  is  that  it  is  possible  for  the 
theoriser  to  read  into  the  portrait  of  Mrs. 
Maxwell  painted  in  1780,  or  of  Miss  Woodley 
(painted  that  same  year)  something  of  the 
same  rich  expression,  something  of  the  same 


124  Romney 

idea  of  features  which  we  are  wont  to 
associate  with  the  woman  who  first  came  to 
him  in  1782.  In  fact,  to  say  that  Romney 
always  paints  the  same  face,  but  only  moves 
the  parts  of  the  mask  a  little,  is  not  accurate. 
One  can  cite  more  than  one  type.  It  may 
be  that  anyone  who  cared  to  do  so  could 
classify  Romney's  women-faces  into  groups 
of  which  there  were  certainly  three,  and 
probably  more.  One  may  mention  that 
Mrs.  Ann  Pitt  (1788),  Lady  Sligo  (1788),  and 
Mrs.  Tickell  (1791)  have  the  shortened 
retrousse  nose  clearly  differentiated  from  the 
long  pointed  nose  so  often  met  with  in  other 
portraits,  e.g.,  Mrs.  Robinson. 

In  the  next  place  one  notices  the  lure  of 
colour  in  Romney's  work.  Whatever  else 
Steele  taught  him,  he  certainly  showed  him 
how  to  grind  and  mix  colour.  In  his  pictures 
(except  those  where  bitumen  has  wrought 
havoc  or  restoration  too  zealously  applied 
has  hidden  original  colour  under  the  gleam 
of  varnish)  one  discovers  a  singularly  pure 
sweet  tone — and  that  is  true  of  his  pictures 
throughout,  from  his  earliest  to  his  latest. 
There  is  a  lofty  artistic  feeling  in  his  colours 
which  combined  with  his  simplicity — one  of 


Quality  of  the  Artist  125 

his  chief  characteristics — attracts  the  eye  and 
claims  sympathy.  He  outlines  grace  and 
dignity,  physical  beauty  and  power,  in 
colours  that  are  laid  so  finely  on  the  picture 
that  we  can  see  the  twilled  canvas  (which  he 
nearly  always  employed)  beneath  the  pig- 
ment— as,  for  example,  in  that  magnificent 
group  The  Beaumont  Family  at  the  National 
Gallery.  In  the  bent  leg  of  the  man  who  is 
leaning  on  the  back  of  the  chair  upon  which 
the  lady  is  sitting  one  can  see  how  thinly 
the  artist  has  spread  his  paint.  As  for  this 
picture,  one  cannot  but  marvel  at  its 
retained  freshness.  Splendid  in  colouring 
and  grouping,  it  looks  almost  as  though  it 
had  but  yesterday  left  the  artist's  studio. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  technique 
Romney  had  the  great  faculty  of  painting 
his  figures  simply  and  directly.  He  prepared 
his  own  pigments  with  a  thoroughness  born 
of  the  ardour  which  his  work  invariably 
inspired  in  him,  with  the  result  that  his 
portraits,  generally  speaking,  retain  this 
pristine  freshness  and  charm  which  the 
ravages  of  time  have  left  untouched.  In 
this  respect  his  work  compares  favourably 
with  that  of  his  great  contemporaries  and 


126  Romney 

rivals  who  so  often,  by  means  of  gla/ing, 
created  a  fascinating  brilliance  which  was 
only  temporary,  as  may  be  well  illustrated 
by  the  present  dull  and  spiritless  state  of 
some  of  the  paintings  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
For  this  reason  we  can  go  to  Romney 's 
pictures  almost  as  though  they  were  being 
newly  displayed,  and  judge  clearly  the  charm 
of  the  original  work.  His  brushwork  was 
direct,  each  stroke  left  a  trace  on  the 
canvas.  There  is  no  stippling,  or  glazing, 
or  even  working  up,  in  his  best  work,  and  it 
is  only  fair  that  we  should  judge  him  by  that. 
We  can  see  in  some  of  his  pictures  evidence 
of  rapid  work  that  has  been  left  just  as  it 
was  accomplished,  and  not  even  retouched. 
One  may  cite  in  this  connection  the  Lady 
with  the  Child  on  Her  Lap  as  shown  in  the 
picture  in  the  National  Gallery.  We  say, 
therefore,  that  he  excelled  in  the  grinding 
and  mixing  of  his  colours,  and  though  his 
palette  does  not  compare  with  those  of  his 
rivals  in  extent,  he  scores  over  them  from 
the  technical  point  of  view  by  reason  of 
its  permanence.  There  are,  of  course, 
eminent  critics  to  whom  Romney  makes  no 
appeal,  and  who  express  their  lack  of 


Qualify  of  the  Artist  127 

admiration  pretty  strongly  ;  but  the  general 
public,  lacking  close  knowledge  of  those 
features  for  which  the  critic,  from  force  of 
training,  searches  first  of  all,  sees  the  charm 
in  the  graceful,  easy  serenity  of  Romney's 
figures,  and  feels  the  pleasing  effects  of  his 
colours.  Romney  may  be  shallow  in  his 
effects,  but  he  inevitably  charms  with  his 
favourite  blending  of  softened  white  and 
blue  of  robes,  softly  powdered  hair,  and 
background  of  trees  in  brown.  As  time 
went  on  he  tended  to  abandon  the  chiaro- 
scuro effects  of  the  old  masters,  with  the 
brown  background  which  was  favoured  by 
Reynolds,  and  he  became  inclined  to  adopt 
light  greys  and  greens. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  in  some 
essentials  the  early  Romney  is  the  later 
Romney.  The  figures  of  his  early  works 
are  somewhat  hard  and  stiff,  while  his 
colour  scheme  is  not  always  harmonious  ; 
but  after  his  visits  to  France  and  Italy, 
when  the  spell  of  the  influence  of  Correggio 
and  Parmigiano  had  fallen  upon  him,  he 
mellowed  and  refined  his  work.  Yet,  all 
through  his  career  his  innate  genius  is  felt 
in  its  original  impulse.  Romney,  as  we 


128  Romney 

know,  was  born  and  reared  in  the  lake 
district,  and  in  his  youth  and  early  manhood 
he  studied  nature  in  all  her  purity,  and 
revelled  in  the  glories  of  nature's  moods  as 
they  clothed  the  hillsides  of  his  native 
country  with  robes  of  purple  and  green  and 
violet.  His  eye  rested  again  and  again  on 
the  richness  of  the  sunset,  which,  when  it 
paints  the  clouds  in  glorious  hues,  so  often 
makes  the  ordinary  beholder  envy  the  power 
of  the  painter.  To  a  man  so  quick  to 
perceive,  and  so  burning  with  enthusiasm, 
this  perception  must  have  been  more  than  a 
real  joy,  it  was  something  that  entered  into 
his  very  soul  to  become  part  of  it.  The 
result  is  reflected  in  work  where  our  eyes  are 
satisfied  by  a  perfectly  blended  harmony  of 
colour  which  is  luminous  without  being 
exaggerated,  and  stands  before  us  unforced 
and  natural.  We  accept  as  indisputably 
true  such  remarks  as  "  he  lived  for  his  art, 
and  the  more  he  painted  the  greater  was  his 
flow  of  spirits."  "  He  was  in  love  with  art 
and  in  love  with  loveliness."  We  accept, 
unmoved,  the  assertion  that  he  was  less 
learned  than  Reynolds,  yet  we  question  the 
statement  that  he  did  not  explore  below  the 


Quality  of  the  Artist  129 

surface   to  discern   character,  but  willingly 
accepted  what  he  found  written  upon  the 
face.     One  admits  that  Romney  employed 
sympathy  rather  than  philosophy,  gathering, 
wherever  he  could  find  it,  the  freshness  and 
innocency    of     youth,    the    glow    of     life, 
especially  the   grace  of  dawning  maturity 
unspoiled  as  yet  by  the  severe  lines  and 
blemishing  defects  that  come  with  years  and 
the    growth    of    passion.     This    phase    he 
painted     with     that     self-restraint     which 
checked  any  search  for  complex  effect  or  for 
hazardous  experiment.     He  was  a  classicist, 
and  being  full  of  ideas  with  regard  to  the 
dignity  of  art,  he  wove  these  ideas  into  the 
subject  of  his  brush.     If  only  in  his  youth 
he  could  have  read  and  learned,  in  con- 
junction with  the  teachings  of  nature,  the 
canons  of  art,  if  only  in  later  life  he  could 
have  become  absorbed  in  the  works  of  the 
great  dramatists  and  poets,  so  that  their 
inspiration   might   have  intermarried  with 
his  genius  for  interpretation,  we  might  have 
received   from   his   hands   a  greatness   not 
simply    of    charm    but    blended    with    the 
strength  of  the  very  loftiest  powers  of  the 
artist.     It  is   worth  noticing,  as  we   pass, 
K 


130  Romney 

that,  while  Hayley  says  it  may  be  questioned 
if  Romney  ever  read  without  interruption 
two  acts  of  the  drama  which  he  cordially 
admired,  Colonel  James  Romney,  the  brother 
of  the  artist,  wrote  to  say  that  Mr.  Romney, 
their  father,  was  a  great  reader  who  could 
borrow  many  works  from  his  neighbours; 
and  he  adds  that  George  had  these  and  read 
them  with  peculiar  pleasure.  What  is 
apparent  is  that,  owing  to  his  early  lack  of 
training  and  his  subsequent  endeavours  to 
overtake  time,  the  artist  had  little  time  in 
his  maturity  to  allow  reading  to  proceed 
hand  in  hand  with  his  imaginative  faculties. 
With  regard  to  Romney 's  power  to  discern 
and  reveal  what  lay  behind,  as  well  as  what 
was  depicted  by  the  features,  we  offer  the 
four  following  accounts  of  four  portraits, 
and  make  the  suggestion  that  many  other 
pictures  might  easily  be  cited  to  show  the 
very  opposite  to  the  criticism  that  Romney 
did  not  read  character. 

(a)  The  simpering  expression  of  the  spoiled 
beauty  pervades  the  portrait  of  the  famous 
Mrs.  Blair  (1787),  the  bosom  friend  of 
Kitty,  Marchioness  of  Queensbury.  On  the 


Qualify  of  the  Arlist  131 

over -dressed  hair  is  set  the  fashionable,  be- 
feathered  Gainsborough  hat,  and  the  whole 
surmounts  a  face  broad  and  high  of  forehead, 
yet  showing  in  the  somewhat  narrow  eyes 
and  long  nose  an  absence  of  depth  of 
character.  The  mouth  is  elongated,  with 
lips  neither  full  nor  thin  but  slightly  scornful, 
as  though  the  flattery,  with  its  obvious 
insincerity,  scarce  satisfied.  The  gown, 
ruffled  over  a  tightly-laced  waist  and  high 
bosom,  remind  one  that  subservience  to  the 
creed  of  fashion  is  no  new  trait  in  woman's 
character.  Here  is  one  of  those  many 
women  who  say  "  Better  be  artificial  and  in 
fashion,  than  true  to  life  and  unfashionable." 
As  we  look  at  this  portrait  we  think  of  a 
tame  but  spoiled  cat  that  must  be  constantly 
stroked,  fussed  and  fed  regularly  with 
cream  and  tit-bits. 

(b)  Romney's  portrait  of  Wesley  was 
painted  at  the  request  of  Mrs.  Tighe,  an 
ardent  admirer  of  the  great  preacher.  As  we 
regard  this  splendid  face,  with  its  broad, 
scholarly  brow,  strong  firm  mouth  curved 
with  humour,  the  long  and  somewhat 
prominent  nose  proclaiming  powerful 


132  Rotnncy 

character,  and  the  eyes  wide  apart  but 
revealing  a  somewhat  dreamy  gaze  sugges- 
tive at  once  of  the  mystic  and  of  the  deep 
searcher  of  the  human  heart,  the  thought 
comes  that  here  is  a  portrait  worthy  of  both 
the  painter  and  the  painted.  The  long 
white  locks  lie  loosely  on  the  shoulders  and 
harmonise  with  the  gentle  serenity  of  the 
face — the  face  of  an  old  man  who  has 
climbed  the  dangerous  ascents  of  life  and 
reached  the  loftiest  summit  of  age,  whence 
he  can  behold  without  fear  the  valley  that 
lies  beyond.  Although  the  upward  climb 
has  been  arduous,  yet  only  sweet  com- 
passion now  remains  for  fellow  toilers  up 
life's  path.  A  noble  dignity  speaks  to  us 
from  the  spiritualised  but  soldierly  features. 
The  expression  seems  to  plead  for  love  and 
to  promise  genuine,  noble  friendship.  The 
strong  heats  of  earlier  life  have  burned  down 
into  the  calm  quiet  dignity  of  age.  The 
light  from  above  falls  fully  on  the  placid, 
smiling  countenance  as  the  rays  of  evening 
fall  upon  the  calm  surface  of  some  river  that 
has  left  its  leaping  impulse  far  behind,  and 
now  in  wider  reaches  at  the  end  of  its  course 
flows  strongly  to  meet  the  ocean  not  far 


Quality  of  the  Artist  133 

ahead.  Only  two  years  after  this  portrait 
was  painted  Wesley  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty-eight. 

(c)  A  strong  contrast  to  many  of  Romney 's 
portraits  of  women  is  that  of  Lady  Griffin 
(Lady  Howard  de  Walden).  This  portrait 
was  painted  in  the  year  1782-3,  about  the 
time,  therefore,  when  Emma  was  first 
exerting  her  charms  upon  his  artistic 
temperament.  The  soft  and  loving  grace  of 
womanhood  so  often  felt  in  Romney 's 
portraits  seems  strangely  absent  as  we  gaze 
upon  the  almost  powerful  features  of  Lady 
Griffin.  Undoubtedly  this  was  a  woman  of 
strong  personality  ;  her  mouth  denotes  a 
firmness  which  boded  ill  for  anybody  who 
chanced  to  be  not  entirely  on  her  side. 
Under  the  mouth  the  flesh  lies  somewhat 
heavily  padded  around  and  under  the  chin, 
speaking  of  a  heavy  and  rather  sensual  type. 
The  eyes  convey  a  feeling  of  hardness  which 
is  substantiated  by  the  lines  of  the  mouth. 
Humour  is  strangely  absent ;  the  mouth 
smiles,  but  only  with  satisfaction.  One  feels 
incMned  to  say,  "  Griffin  by  name  and  griffin 
by  nature  !  "  The  whole  portrait  suggests 


134  Romney 

a  stiffness  and  rigidity,  from  the  head-dress 
downwards  ;  even  the  left  hand  opens  as 
if  to  lay  down  a  point  in  the  argument. 
Surely,  Lady  Griffin  lived  too  soon.  In 
later  days  she  might  have  led  in  powerful 
wise  some  modern  section  of  a  feminist 
movement. 

(d)  A  curious  hint  of  modernity  surrounds 
the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Ann  Pitt,  the  best 
portrait  of  the  type,  which  appeared  about 
the  year  1788.  The  rounded  face  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  mass  of  thick,  softly  curling 
hair  which  is  held  in  place  by  a  broad  white 
bandeau.  Round  the  wide  forehead  and 
over  the  ears  cling  escaping  tendrils  of  hair. 
The  expression  of  the  face,  tender,  appealing 
and  childlike,  is  accentuated  by  the  upward 
glance  of  the  full,  dark  eyes  set  beneath 
curved  eyebrows.  The  short  retrousse  nose, 
with  its  arched  nostrils,  hints  at  the 
mischievousness  of  a  child's  nature.  The 
mouth,  with  full  and  slightly  parted  lips, 
completes  the  delicate  study  hinted  at  in 
the  soft,  smooth  cheeks. 

Sustained    effort    is    always    difficult    to 


Quality  of  the  Artist  135 

maintain.  The  high  standard  of  excellence 
demanded  from  a  painter  of  the  first  rank 
can  only  be  continued  for  a  limited  period, 
after  which  the  result  is  more  than  likely  to 
be  unsatisfactory.  As  we  look  at  the 
Sketch  Portrait  of  Lady  Hamilton  (in  the 
National  Gallery)  we  remember  that  this 
woman  was  of  a  highly  emotional  tempera- 
ment, many-sided  in  character,  possessed  a 
command  over  facial  expression  and  had  all 
the  gifts  of  an  accomplished  and  trained 
actress.  Romney  has  caught  a  passing 
phase  of  this  mobile  model's  ever-changing 
features.  If,  as  Ruskin  asserts,  "  finish  is 
added  truth,"  would  this  portrait  have  been 
of  more  artistic  value,  or  more  pleasing  to 
the  eye,  had  it  been  finished  ?  Romney 
has  shown  us  the  wondrous  colouring  of  her 
hair  and  skin,  of  her  eyes  and  lips  ;  he  has 
captured  the  beauty  of  the  form  of  the  oval 
face,  soft  and  bewitching.  He  reveals  the 
delicate  shape  of  the  neck  and  throat.  All 
these  are  in  the  portrait.  But  above  and 
beyond  is  the  vivacity  of  the  woman 
suggested  in  the  poise  of  her  head,  the  flash 
of  the  eyes,  and  the  hand  clutching  the  hair, 
as  if  the  result  of  a  sudden  impulse.  The 


136  Romney 

picture  arrests  attention.  It  enables  the 
spectator  to  realise,  in  some  measure,  the 
magnetic  personality  of  this  woman  who 
was  composed  of  such  a  strange  mixture  of 
virtue  and  vice,  and  who  could  exert  so 
powerfully  an  influence  on  men  who  were 
distinctly  opposite  in  taste  and  temperament. 
It  should  be  noted  to  Lady  Hamilton's 
credit  that  this  subtle  and  irresistible 
influence  was  not  always  connected  with  the 
grosser  passions.  In  some  cases  it  was  so, 
but  not  in  all.  As  we  have  seen,  her  letters  to 
Romney  point  clearly  to  an  unselfish  regard 
for  the  man,  and  to  a  friendship  that  was 
perfectly  innocent,  and,  therefore,  quite 
beyond  the  average  understanding  of  an  age 
which  was  not  merely  complacent  and  self- 
satisfied,  but  to  a  degree  gross  and  sensual. 
The  study  of  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  Bacchante 
is  one  of  Romney's  best  known  portraits  of 
his  favourite  model.  In  all  probability  it 
enables  us  to  form  a  better  conception  of 
her  real  appearance  and  witchery  of  manner 
than  any  other  of  his  works.  Romney's 
brush  conveys  in  the  colour  of  cheeks  and 
lips  the  suggestion  of  a  beautiful  pink  rose. 
He  shows  us  her  wonderful  auburn  hair, 


Quality  of  the  Artist  137 

wavy  and  wayward  as  herself.  Blue  eyes 
set  wide  apart,  perfect  teeth,  and  broad 
forehead  speak  of  beauty  as  well  as  of 
powerful  personality.  The  painter  has  por- 
trayed piquancy  and  daintiness  with  no 
suggestion  whatever  of  vulgarity  or  lack  of 
modesty.  One  can  scarcely  regard  this 
charming  creature  as  a  devotee  of  Bacchus. 

The  hall-mark  of  Romney's  work  is  his 
perfect  sincerity  and  absence  of  artifice  in 
the  method  of  his  painting.  This  fact 
stands  out  strongly  in  the  portrait  of  the 
younger  Pitt.  Romney,  as  we  have  said, 
was  trained  in  the  school  of  nature.  His 
mind  and  his  manner  of  handling  his  subject 
were  free  from  convention.  He  brought 
from  the  north  the  conceptions  of  colour  he 
had  early  formed  from  a  study  of  the 
pictures  painted  there  by  the  Creator  of  his 
native  fells  and  dales,  of  the  lakes  and  meres 
with  their  ripples  and  reflections.  In  this 
way  he  may  be  said  to  be  a  prototype  of  the 
Pre-Raphaelites  and  to  have  anticipated,  by 
more  than  a  generation,  their  search  for  the 
truth  in  the  matter  of  colour. 

From  the  emotional  standpoint  the  art  of 
Romney  is  seen  at  its  best  in  his  portraiture 


138  Romney 

of  women  and  children.  Who  can  compare 
Reynold's  Lady  Cockburn  and  her  Children 
with  Romney's  Gower  Family  and  fail  to  be 
prejudiced  in  favour  of  the  lesser  artist  ? 
The  painting  of  the  female  figure  was  to  him 
a  real  joy,  and  when  his  subject  was  the 
beautiful  woman  who  became  to  him  an 
obsession,  the  subtle  charm  of  her  personality 
and  the  exquisite  beauty  and  grace  of  her 
limbs  and  features,  combined  with  her 
unusual  histrionic  powers,  are  rendered 
again  and  again  in  his  portraits  with  the 
same  intensity  of  ardour  as  when  they  first 
ravished  and  conquered  his  susceptible 
nature. 

Romney  emulated  the  highest  masters 
whenever  he  could  spare  time  from  the 
daily  grind  of  portrait  painting ;  though 
his  faculty  for  imparting  a  tale  of  grandeur 
had  its  limitations,  yet  his  constructive 
genius  was  great  and  convincing.  Lord  R. 
Gower  says  that  "  if  Romney  had  never 
painted  a  portrait  his  name  would  even  then 
stand  very  high  among  the  artists  of  Britain, 
for  some  of  his  poetic  and  dramatic  compo- 
sitions are  replete  with  imaginative  power." 
Among  those  scenes  from  Shakespeare  for 


Quality  of  the  Artist  139 

which  he  had  an  intense  admiration,  some 
are  boldly  conceived,  and  executed  with  the 
skill  and  power  of  a  great  painter.  We  may 
regard  imaginative  painting  as  the  recreation 
in  which  he  indulged  whenever  occasion 
offered.  But  his  living  had  to  be  won  in  the 
painting  of  portraits.  Had  he  been  able  to 
devote  more  time  to  his  favourite  delineation 
of  imagery,  had  his  entire  training  been 
effective  to  this  end,  Romney  would  not 
only  have  been  a  happier  man,  but  would 
have  left  us,  in  all  probability,  a  canvas 
equal  to  the  works  of  the  greatest.  One  of 
the  tragedies  of  his  life  seems  to  be  that 
powerful  inclination  which  towards  the  close 
of  his  life  led  him  to  set  his  mind  upon  the 
outline  of  vast  historical  and  religious 
compositions  without  the  power  to  execute 
them  adequately. 


CHAPTER   V. 

ROMNEY'S  INFLUENCE  ON  CONTEMPORARIES 
AND  SUCCESSORS,  AND  ON  PUBLIC  TASTE. 

Romney's  captivating  grace  brought  a 
constant  train  of  sitters  to  his  canvas.  It  is 
difficult  to  determine  to  what  extent  he 
influenced  contemporary  art.  Even  when 
one  has  attempted  to  answer  the  question, 
the  suspicion  remains  that  too  much  or  too 
little  has  been  said.  We  have  referred  to 
the  manner  in  which  Romney  held  aloof  from 
the  Royal  Academy,  and  also  to  the  secluded 
path  he  trod.  From  temperament  and  from 
lack  of  earlier  opportunities  he  was  inclined 
to  remain  largely  shut  off  from  social 
activities  and  functions.  "  His  art  was 
entirely  intimate,  personal  to  himself  even 
more  than  to  his  sitters."  For  our  purpose 
it  will  be  as  well  to  take  a  brief  review  of 
141 


142  Romney 

some  of  those  artists  who  seem  more 
directly  to  have  fallen  under  Romney 's 
influence,  frankly  omitting  any  attempt  to 
trace  any  mark  of  his  characteristic  traits 
upon  his  greater  rivals.  We  read  of  his 
copying  the  pictures  of  certain  of  his  out- 
standing contemporaries ;  whether  they 
condescended  to  adopt  any  lessons  from 
him  is  a  question  that  must  lie  beyond  the 
scope  of  our  enquiry. 

When  John  Flaxman  (1755-1826)  was 
introduced  to  Romney,  a  bond  of  sympathy 
already  existed  between  them.  Each  had 
suffered  the  keenest  disappointment  at  the 
hands  of  the  famous  and  powerful  President 
of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Arts.  In  1770 
Flaxman,  who  was  a  student  at  the  Academy 
School,  then  in  its  second  year  of  existence, 
possessed  so  much  courage  and  ability  that, 
although  he  was  only  a  lad  of  fifteen,  he 
competed  for  the  Gold  Medal.  He  was 
confident  that  he  would  win  the  coveted 
prize.  Romney  had  been  equally  confident 
when,  in  the  spring  of  1763,  he  had  exhibited 
The  Death  of  General  Wolfe.  Flaxman  just 
missed  the  gold  medal,  which  went  to 
Englehart,  the  miniature  painter,  and  he  had 


Influence  on  Contemporaries         143 

to  be  contented  with  the  silver  medal — no 
mean  honour  for  such  a  youth.  As  we 
have  remarked  elsewhere,  Romney  was  not 
so  successful  as  the  younger  man. 

Flaxman  and  Romney  met  at  the  house 
of  a  clergyman  in  Rathbone  Place,  and  this 
acquaintance  developed  into  an  intimate 
and  lasting  friendship.  "  Our  dear  and 
worthy  Flaxman,"  says  Romney,  "  whose 
talents  I  admire  and  place  before  every  other 
artist."  The  connection  of  the  sculptor 
with  the  firm  of  Wedgwood  is  well  known, 
and  it  was  his  genius  as  a  modeller  of 
ornament,  and  especially  of  the  human 
figure,  that  very  materially  influenced  the 
current  taste  and  fashion  in  artistic  pottery 
and  made  the  name  of  Wedgwood  known 
all  over  the  world.  It  was  now  that 
Romney  exercised,  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously, a  considerable  influence  over  his 
younger  brother  in  art,  and  we  have  already 
shown  how  Flaxman  expressed  in  deliberate 
language  his  profound  admiration  for 
Romney's  ability  as  an  exponent  of  the 
plastic  art,  and  leads  us  to  believe  that,  had 
the  artist  chosen  to  do  so,  he  might  have  be- 
come equally  famous  as  a  modeller  or  sculp- 


144  Romney 

tor,  or  wood-carver.  Flaxman's  intimacy 
with  Romney  necessarily  made  the  younger 
man  take  note  of  his  friend's  masterly  treat- 
ment of  the  figure — especially  after  Romney 
had  studied  the  antique  in  Italy.  He 
seems  to  have  imparted  some  of  his  love  for 
the  antique  to  his  young  friend  from  the  very 
beginning  of  their  association.  True  it  is 
that  the  grouping  of  the  figures  seen  in  the 
masterly  modelling  work  that  Flaxman  did 
for  Wedgwood  was  nothing  less  than  the 
work  of  a  genius,  and  was  beyond  and  apart 
from  any  extraneous  influence.  But  the 
figure  clearly  became  more  graceful  under 
his  touch,  and  the  modelling  more  delicate 
and  subtle,  as  his  friendship  with  Romney 
ripened.  We  should  remember  that  it  was 
not  until  after  most  of  his  personal  work  for 
the  famous  firm  of  potters  had  been 
accomplished  that  Flaxman  visited  Italy, 
and  came  into  direct  touch  with  the  work 
of  the  great  masters,  although  he  had  foi 
many  years  earnestly  desired  to  do  so.  He 
remained  in  Italy  for  seven  years,  studying 
and  perfecting  his  art.  If  anyone  cares  to 
do  so  he  may  draw  a  parallel  with  Romney 
from  the  fact  that  Flaxman's  work  is  pure 


Influence  on  Contemporaries        145 

and  simple,  is  executed  in  the  true  classic 
spirit,  but  at  times  shows  weakness  in 
portraying  the  stronger  emotions.  Both 
Romney  and  Flaxman  were  "  classically 
minded,"  votaries  of  pure  lines,  and  deep 
believers  in  Greek  ideals  of  art. 

Romney  had  much  to  do  with  fashioning 
the  career  and  developing  the  artistic  ability 
of  Isaac  Pocock,  who  became  his  pupil  in 
1798  and  was  the  fellow-student  of  Thomas 
A.  Hayley.  It  was  during  one  of  his  pro- 
longed visits  to  the  elder  Hayley  that 
Romney  drew  the  portraits  of  these  two 
pupils.  Under  Romney's  tuition  Pocock 
progressed  so  satisfactorily  that  his  pictures 
were  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  for 
many  years.  In  1807  he  was  awarded  a 
prize  of  one  hundred  pounds  by  the  British 
Institution  for  a  historical  painting  entitled 
The  Murder  of  Si,  Thomas  a  Becket. 
Pocock 's  fame  was  not  confined  to  London. 
He  became  a  member  of  the  Liverpool 
Academy,  where  he  exhibited  works  both  in 
oil  and  water  colours.  His  native  home  was 
Bristol,  where  his  father  was  well  known  as 
a  marine  painter.  An  uncle  resided  in  the 
same  town,  and,  when  he  died,  leaving 
L 


146  Romney 

Isaac  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  the  artist 
was  enabled  to  devote  his  attention  to  the 
dream  for  which  for  some  time  he  had 
possessed  a  great  affection.  Henceforth  he 
almost  ceased  his  labours  as  an  artist.  He 
became  a  playwright  and  composed  many 
musical  comedies,  the  chief  of  which  was 
"  Hit  or  Miss." 

The  modern  student  would  like  to 
establish  some  identity  of  interests  or 
association  in  art  between  Benjamin  West, 
the  American  painter,  and  George  Romney. 
West  was  a  powerful  painter,  and  a  con- 
temporary of  the  subject  of  this  book,  but 
one  admits  that  his  influence  on  the  English- 
man was  merely  negative.  As  a  portrait 
painter  he  stood  coldly  aside  through 
force  of  circumstances,  leaving  the  field,  so 
far  as  he  was  concerned,  clear  for  Romney, 
while  he  himself  was  engaged  upon  his 
historical  canvases  for  the  King.  It  would 
be,  one  ventures  to  assert,  a  difficult  task  to 
decide  whether  Romney  or  West  influenced 
the  other,  directly  or  indirectly. 

One  of  George  Romney's  closest  com- 
panions was  Ozias  Humphry,  whose  intimate 
and  cordial  friendship  he  enjoyed  for  many 


Influence  on  Contemporaries        147 

years.  Upcott,  Humphry's  natural  son, 
tells  us  that  for  a  considerable  time  the  two 
great  artists  had  studios  adjoining,  and  each 
must  have  been  the  richer  from  the  study 
of  the  other's  work.*  These  lodgings  were 
at  the  Golden  Head — the  usual  sign  of 
artists — in  Great  Newpoit  Street.  Romney 
painted  Humphry's  portrait  in  1772,  at 
Knole,  just  before  the  two  friends  left 
England  for  Rome.  They  travelled  to  Italy 
in  a  leisurely  fashion,  for  Humphry  was  at 
that  time  a  nervous  wreck.  His  recent  love 
affairs  had  not  sped  happily.  Miss  Paine, 
the  daughter  of  a  well-known  architect  of 
the  time,  had  jilted  him.  Subsequently  she 
married  Tilly  Kettle. 

On  reaching  Italy,  Romney  and  Humphry 
continued  to  live  together  only  for  a  short 
time.  Romney  was  reserved,  almost  austere, 
anxious,  as  we  have  seen,  to  capture  the  years 
that  had  fled.  He  studied  incessantly. 
Humphry  was  a  man  of  fashion  who  loved 
society.  Thus  it  was  that  their  paths  at 
this  time  soon  parted,  although  the  spirit  of 
their  friendship  lived  and  thrived.  When 

*  See  The  Life  and  Works  of  Ozias  Humphry,  R.A., 
by  G.  C.  Williamson,  Litt.D. 


148  Romney 

Humphry  returned  to  London,  some  two 
years  after  Romney  had  resumed  his  task  of 
portrait-painting,  he  again  picked  up  the 
threads  of  intimate  friendship  with  his 
travelling  companion.  They  were  now  often 
in  each  other's  company.  Humphry  was 
elected  A.R.A.  in  1779.  For  the  most  part 
the  two  men,  so  often  together,  seem  to  have 
worked  separately  for  the  same  reason  that 
prompted  each  to  go  his  own  way  in  Italy. 
Romney  liked  to  work  in  quiet  and  seclusion  ; 
Humphry  loved  to  be  surrounded  by  men  of 
wit  and  fashion,  whose  conversation  seems 
to  have  inspired  rather  than  hindered  him. 
We  must  recollect  their  earlier  visits  to 
Knole  Park,  the  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Dorset, 
where  they  both  painted  pictures  which  still 
remain  in  the  mansion  (including  one  of 
Ozias  Humphry  by  Romney)  and  can  be 
identified  by  papers  in  the  possession  of  the 
Sackville  family. 

These  two  artists  had  a  real  admiration 
for  each  other's  work.  This  is  evident  from 
the  fact  that,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
they  acquired  each  other's  style  to  a  very 
considerable  degree.  In  1810,  the  year  of 
the  artist's  death,  William  Upton  wrote  to 


Influence  on  Contemporaries        149 

a  relative  of  Humphry,  saying  that  he  was 
glad  that  his  godfather's  pictures  were  to  be 
sold  with  those  of  George  Romney,  and  that 
Mr.  Christie  had  in  the  sale  the  works  of  two 
artists  who  in  their  days  had  been  such 
intimate  friends.  Ozias  has  left  a  record 
that  Romney  was  "  an  eminent  man  and  his 
great  friend."  These  facts  are  stressed 
because  it  was  the  introduction  of  a  life- 
sized  head  of  Mrs.  Banks  by  the  miniature 
painter  that  was  of  the  greatest  value  in 
deciding  the  difference  in  technique  between 
Romney  and  Humphry,  when,  in  May,  1917, 
before  Justice  Darling,  it  took  six  days  to 
prove  that  the  real  painter  of  the  portrait  of 
The  Three  Sisters  Waldegrave  was  Ozias 
Humphry  and  not  George  Romney.*  The 
most  eminent  authorities  were  strangely 
divided  in  their  opinions  ;  and  the  case 
brought  out  clearly  the  likeness  and  affinity 
between  the  styles  of  these  two  artists.  It 
had  been  forgotten  how  Romney  and 
Humphry  had  been  such  close  friends,  living, 
travelling,  and,  at  times,  working  side  by 
side.  It  has  even  been  suggested  that 

*  See  The  Cult  of  Old  Paintings.     The  case  wa* 
reported  in   Tht  Daily  Telegraph. 


150  Romney 

Romney  might  have  stood  by  his  friend's 
easel  making  this  or  that  suggestion,  or  even 
taking  a  brush  and  executing  what  his  eye 
saw  was  desirable.  Humphry's  work  is 
praised  for  its  refinement,  simplicity,  correct 
draughtsmanship  and  harmonious  colouring. 
Is  it  too  much  to  assign  the  development  of 
some  of  these  qualities  to  the  influence  of 
the  older  and  less  trained  artist  ?  Ozias  in 
his  youth  was  encouraged  and  assisted  by 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  ;  his  talent  in  later  life 
clearly  approximated  to  the  methods  of 
Romney. 

When  Ozias  Humphry  returned  to  London 
in  1777  he  established  himself  in  Rathbone 
Place,  and  there,  in  October  of  that  same 
year,  came  to  him  as  a  pupil  John  Opie,  a 
youth  of  fifteen.  Thirty-two  years  later 
Opie,  the  professor  of  painting  to  the  Royal 
Academy,  delivered  the  knowledge  and 
experience  of  his  life  in  a  series  of  four 
lectures,  of  which  it  is  said  that,  with  the 
exception  of  those  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds, 
"  there  are  no  other  lectures  emanating  from 
the  Royal  Academy  more  original  and  just." 
They  deal  with  Design,  Invention,  Chiaro- 
scuro, and  Colouring.  The  point  to  notice 


Influence  on  Contemporaries        151 

is  that  Opie  in  these  lectures  mentions 
frequently  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  ;  he  dilates 
upon  Rubens,  Rembrandt  and  other  names 
of  giants  in  art.  But  nowhere  does  he 
mention  Romney.  By  1810,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge,  Romney 's  reputation  had  under- 
gone a  rapid  decline.  The  sale  at  Christie's 
in  1807  realised  but  very  low  prices.  There 
were  no  influential  friends  to  boom  his 
pictures.  The  portrait  of  Lady  Almeria 
Carpenter  was  sold  for  a  guinea  and  a  half. 
The  tide  turned  afterwards,  but  it  is 
significant  that  this  young  contemporary 
should  not  notice  his  great  fellow  artist.  In 
the  Boydell  Plates  (two  volumes  in  sepia) 
at  South  Kensington,  there  are  copies  of 
the  pictures  done  for  Boydell's  Galleries  by 
Romney,  Opie,  Smirke,  Stothard  and 
Wheatley.  One  suggests  that  in  the  work  of 
Opie  and  Smirke,  but  especially  in  that  of 
Opie,  there  are,  in  these  plates,  certain 
peculiarities  of  nose  and  mouth  which  are 
often  very  much  in  evidence  and  hint  at  the 
art  of  Romney.  The  question  arises  whether 
these  artists  were  influenced  by  Romney  or 
Romney  by  either  of  them.  Did  these 
artists  all  draw  from  one  model,  especially 


152  Romney 

from  Emma  Hamilton  ?  Was  there  at  that 
period  a  sort  of  type,  a  growth  of  the  years 
in  which  it  occurs,  something  without  any 
special  reference  to  any  individual  painter  ? 
The  peculiarities  are  to  be  traced  slightly  in 
the  works  of  Stothard,  Westley,  and  West. 
In  Romney 's  Prosper o  and  Miranda  we  have 
the  Emma  Hamilton  face,  but  with  nose  and 
mouth  less  strongly  marked  and  the  face 
rounder  than  in  his  Cassandra  Raving, 
a  full-length  figure  of  Emma  Hamilton 
draped  and  with  the  face  uplifted.  In  this 
picture  the  arms  are  somewhat  too  fleshy 
in  proportion  to  the  figure.  In  his  Infant 
Shakespeare  Attended  by  Nature  and  the 
Passions  one  feels  that  the  general  aspect  of 
the  picture  does  not  closely  approximate  to 
the  bulk  of  Romney's  work.  But  it  is  to 
the  long  nose  and  strongly-curved  mouth, 
features  decidedly  in  evidence  in  Romney's 
pictures,  and  at  least  suggested  in  the  works 
of  the  other  artists,  that  one  specially  draws 
attention,  and  asks  whether  there  was  a 
common  model,  or  a  common  type,  or  a 
common  inspiration  ? 

We  have  referred  earlier  to  a  comparison 
between  a  picture  of  Romney's  and  some  of 


Influence  on  Contemporaries        153 

Tilly  Kettle's  productions.  In  the  National 
Gallery  there  is  a  portrait  of  Warren 
Hastings  said  to  have  been  executed  by  Tilly 
Kettle,  and  catalogued  as  such.  The 
National  Gallery  acquired  this  portrait  in 
1859,  and  then  it  was  catalogued  as  a 
Romney.  Messrs.  Ward  &  Roberts  include 
the  portrait  of  Warren  Hastings  among 
Romney 's  works,  and  say  that  the  portrait 
described  as  being  "  painted  in  India  by  Tilly 
Kettle,  which  is  now  in  the  National  Portrait 
Gallery,  was  catalogued  as  by  Romney  in 
1859."  Here  then  is  one  more  portrait  which 
has  led  authorities  to  differ,  and  seems  to 
point  to  the  influence  of  one  artist  upon  the 
style  and  execution  of  another.  One 
notices  in  passing  that  the  portrait  of  Lord 
Kenyan,  attributed  to  Martin  Archer  Shee, 
was  partly  Romney's  work.  The  essential 
part,  at  least,  the  head,  was  the  work  of 
his  hands. 


APPENDIX    I. 

PICTURES  BY  ROMNEY  IN  GALLERIES  OPEN  TO  THE 
PUBLIC  AND  IN  PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS. 

NATIONAL    GALLERY.  Approx.  date 

Mrs.  Robert  Trotter  of  Bush  (2943)  '789 

The  Beaumont  Family  (3400)  1776-8 

Lady  and  Child  (1667)  1782 

Sketch  of  Lady  Hamilton  (1668) 
Lady  Hamilton  (head  only) 
The  Parson's  Daughter  (1058) 

NATIONAL    PORTRAIT   GALLERY. 

Lady  Hamilton  (294) 

Richard  Cumberland  (19)  1776 

John  Flaxman  (101) 

James  Harris  (185) 

Lloyd,  Lord  Kenyon  (469) .  (First  cata- 
logued under  Shee,  who  completed  the 
portrait,  the  majority  of  which  is  by 
Romney.)  1792 

George  Romney  (unfinished — by  himself) 
(959) 

John  Smeaton   (doubtful  Romney ; 

?  Rhodes)  (80)  1779 

Adam  Walker  and  family  (1106) 

William  Cowper — 

1.  Crayon  drawing  (1423) 

2.  Painting  (372) 

Peter  Romney  (miniature)   (1882) 
Robert  Raikes  (1551) 

TATE    GALLERY. 

Lady  Hamilton  as  a  Bacchante  (312) 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wm.  Lindow  (3196)  1770 

Mrs.  Mark  Currie  (1651)  I78g 

Lady  Craven  (1669)  1778 

Jacob  Morland  (1906) 

William   Pitt  the  Younger  (2280)  1783 

155 


156  Romney 

VICTORIA  AND  ALBERT  MUSEUM. 

"Serena"     (?  Honora    Edgeworth,    nte 

Sneyd)  before  1780 

BIRMINGHAM  (CITY  ART  GALLERY). 
Lady  Holte  1 78 1-3 

CAMBRIDGE  (CHRIST'S  COLLEGE). 

Archdeacon  Paley  1789 

(CORPUS  CHRISTI  COLLEGE). 

William  Colman,  D.D.  1779 

(EMMANUEL  COLLEGE). 

Rev.  R.  Farmer  1777 

Samuel  Parr,  D.D.  1788 

Earl  of  Westmorland  1782 

(Fitz WILLIAM  MUSEUM). 

Portrait  of  a  Young  Man 

(GONVILLE    AND    CAIUS   COLLEGE). 

Samuel  Parr,  D.D.  (copy)  1788 
(MAGDALENE  COLLEGE). 

Richard  Cumberland 
(ST.  JOHN'S  COLLEGE). 

Sir  Noah  Thomas  1781 

-(TRINITY  COLLEGE). 


Duke  of  Gloucester  1790 

DULWICH  COLLEGE. 

Joseph  Allen,  M.D.  1778 

ETON  COLLEGE. 

Lord  Boston  1783 

W.  W.  Grenville  1781 

Charles  Grey  1784 

Mr.  Herbert 

Hon.  William  King  1788 

Mr.  Lane  (replica] 

Mr.  Simpson  1789 

William  Tighe  1781 

FISHMONGER'S  HALL. 

The  Margrave  of  Anspach  1793 

The  Margravine  of  Anspach  r793 


Appetidix  157 

GREENWICH  HOSPITAL. 

Adm.  Hon.  John  Forbes  1778 

Adm.  Sir  Charles  Hardy  1 780 

HARROW  SCHOOL. 

John  Sayer  1770 

HERTFORD  HOUSE  (WALLACE  COLLECTION). 

Mrs.  Robinson  as  Perdita  1778 

MANCHESTER  (CITY  ART  GALLERY). 

Hon.  Thomas  Cherbury  Bligh  1782 
(CHETHAM'S  LIBRARY). 

Robert  Thyer 

OXFORD  (CHRIST  CHURCH). 

Dr.  Cleaver  1796 

W.  W.  Grenvillc  (reputed  Komney)  71781 

Sir  A.  Macdonald  1 793 

Duke  of  Portland  1 794 

Edward  Smallwell  1794 

Lord  Stormont  1783 

(NEW  COLLEGE). 

Dr.  John  Oglander  1778 

(TRINITY  COLLEGE). 

Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  (reputed  Romney) 

(WADHAM  COLLEGE). 

James  Harris  (replica) 

ST.  LUKE'S  HOSPITAL. 

Mr.  Prowting  1788 


APPENDIX    II. 

A   LIST   OF   WORKS   ON   THE   LIFE   AND   ART    OF 
GEORGE  ROMNEY. 

The  following  list  of  books  and  articles  is  in  no  way 
comprehensive.  It  simply  suggests  certain  typical 
works  to  the  attention  of  the  student,  who  can 
easily  amplify  the  materials  for  research  by  a 
reference  to  the  Index  and  Subject  Index  at  the 
British  Museum,  and  elsewhere. 

George  Romney  (with  plates).  Lord  Ronald 

Charles  Sutherland  Gower.  1904 

Romney  :  a  bibliographical  and  critical  essay, 
with  a  Catalogue  Raisonne  of  his  Works. 
Thomas  Humphrey  Ward  and  William 
Roberts.  1904 

George  Romney  (with  73  plates).  Arthur 

Benslcy  Chamberlain.  1906 

George  Romney  and  his  Art.     Hilda  Gamlin.     1894 

The  Cult  of  Old  Paintings  and  the  Romney 

Case.  R.  D.  Lloyd.  1917 

The  Life  of  George  Romney.     William  Hayley.     1809 

Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Works  of  George 

Romney.  Rev.  John  Romney,  B.D.  1830 

A  Romney  Folio.  With  68  plates  in  photo- 
gravure and  an  es>ay  with  descriptive  notes. 
Arthur  Bensley  Chamberlain.  1911 

George  Romney.      Sir  \Villiam  Maxwell.  1902 

The  Masterpieces  of  Romney.  (Sixty  repro- 
ductions). Gowan's  Art  Books  No  36.  1910 

A  n  Illustrated  Catalogue  of  Engraved  Portraits 
and  Fancy  Subjects  painted  by  G.  Romney, 
published  between  1770  and  1830.  H.  P. 
Home.  1891 

The  Engraved  Works  of  Romney  and  Gains- 
borough. Herbert  Percy  Home.  1891 

158 


Appendix  159 


Romney,    Containing     sixteen     Examples     in 

Colour    of    the    Master's    Work.      Randall 

Davies.  1914 

Stories  of  the  English  Artists  from  Vandyck  to 

Turner.     Randall  Davies.  1908 

English  Society  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  in 

Contemporary  Art.     Randall  Davies.  1907 

The  Life  and  Works  of  Ozias  Humphry,  R.A. 

G.  C.  Williamson.  1918 

A  Little  Gallery  of  Romney.     (Methuens.)  1903 

George  Romney.     G.  Paston.  1903 

Romney's    Art    (Th-..-    Nineteenth    Century). 

R.  C.  Witt.  1901 

Article  on  Romney  (The  Temple  Bar  Magazine, 

Vol.  60)  1880 

Portrait  of  Mrs.  Blair  (The  Century  Magazine) 

June,   1911 

Romney.     (Putnam's  Monthly).  August,   1907 

The  Romney  Exhibition  at  the  Grafton  Gallery 

(Magazine  of  Art).     Lionel  Cust.  1900 

A  Century  of  Artists.    William  Ernest  Henley.     1889 
Memoirs     of    Mr.     George     Romney.     (The 

European    Magazine,    Vol.    43).     Richard 

Cumberland.  June,   1803 

The  reader  is  also  referred  to  such  works  as  these  : 
Art  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  by  Sir  Walter 
Armstrong;  Bryan's  Dictionary  of  Painters  and 
Engravers  ;  The  Life  of  Romney  in  the  Dictionary 
of  National  Biography,  etc. 


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